Dear OKX users,
The Ethereum (ETH) Merge is almost complete. Here's an update on how OKX will address the Merge.
What is the status of the Merge?
On September 6, Ethereum completed the Bellatrix upgrade, preparing its Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Beacon Chain to merge with its Proof-of-Work (PoW) mainnet.
The next and final step is the Paris upgrade when the Ethereum mainnet will convert from a PoW to a PoS consensus mechanism. This will happen when Ethereum's PoW mainnet reaches the Terminal Total Difficulty (TTD) value of 58750000000000000000000. The Ethereum Foundation predicts this will probably happen around 2:00 AM, September 15, 2022 (UTC). Please note, this is only an estimate and the exact timing might change as the Ethereum PoW chain's network difficulty changes. Please check Ethereum's official channels for the most recent updates.
How will OKX support new tokens created around the Merge?
Before Ethereum completes the Merge, some network members may hard fork Ethereum and create a separate version of the network that will not undergo the Merge. This new version of Ethereum may issue a crypto token.
In that case, after the Merge, OKX will treat ETH tokens from the updated Ethereum PoS chain as Ether (ETH) tokens. We will treat tokens issued by the hard-forked version of Ethereum as tokens of a separate blockchain (forked tokens).
What if forked tokens are airdropped before the Merge?
If a forked token airdrop occurs, you'll receive forked tokens at a 1:1 ratio with your ETH balance at the time of the Merge, based on a snapshot of your account at the moment Ethereum's PoW chain reaches the TTD value of 58750000000000000000000. The fork is predicted to happen around 2:00 AM, September 15, 2022 (UTC). Please note, this is only an estimate and the exact timing might change as the Ethereum PoW chain's network difficulty changes. Please check Ethereum's official channels for the most recent updates.
The snapshot includes Trading, Funding, and Grow accounts. It also includes outstanding ETH loans, such as:
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single-currency cross-margin mode loans
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isolated margin mode loans
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negative equity in multi-currency cross-margin mode
If you have outstanding ETH loans, including those in multi-currency margin mode, when we take the snapshot, you must repay the debt in forked tokens. Otherwise, we may restrict transfers and withdrawals in your OKX account until you have repaid your loans in the forked tokens.
If you weren't able to repay the loans before the due date, we may deduct the debt value in USD from your account. Meanwhile, before your loans are repaid in the forked tokens, we will treat them as active loans and might adjust the interest rates based on market conditions. If we list the forked tokens on OKX, their value will reflect their real-time spot prices. If we don't list the forked tokens on OKX, their value will reflect their fair market price. We will make a separate announcement regarding the specifics. It is recommended to repay your ETH loans before the fork.
So, when we snapshot your account, we will calculate your total ETH equity as follows:
Total ETH Equity = (ETH balance and unrealized PnL in trading account) + (ETH equity in funding account) + (ETH equity in Grow account) + (ETH collateral in fixed-term and flexible-term loans) - (ETH borrowed in fixed-term and flexible-term loans) - (ETH borrowed in trading activities [including Single-currency cross margin loans, isolated margin loans, multi-currency cross margin loans])
If the forked chain doesn't support the staked ETH in DeFi products in receiving the airdrop, these staked ETH will not be included in your Grow account ETH equity.
After the airdrop, we'll submit the forked tokens for our standard listing review process. If the forked tokens pass the listing review, we'll make a separate announcement.
We will provide another service update when we have more information to share.
How will the Merge affect OKX services?
To ensure customer asset safety around the Merge, OKX will temporarily pause some services when Ethereum's TTD value reaches 58750000000000000000000 at around 2:00 AM, September 15, 2022 (UTC). Please note, this is only an estimate and the exact timing might change as the Ethereum PoW chain's network difficulty changes. Please check Ethereum's official channels for the most recent updates. We'll make a separate announcement when we know the exact timing of this pause.
After the Merge, we'll confirm that the updated ETH PoS mainnet is stable and secure. Then, we'll resume full service for ETH and ERC-20 tokens.
ETH prices may be volatile during the Merge. It may be advisable to reduce or close your options and future positions, reduce your leverage, or increase your margin before September 13.
Here's how the Merge will affect each of OKX's services:
- Withdrawals and deposits – We'll pause deposits and withdrawals related to ETH and other Ethereum (ERC-20) tokens at around 3:00 PM, September 14, 2022 (UTC). After the Merge, when we confirm that ETH and ERC-20 token deposits and withdrawals can resume, we'll make another announcement.
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Transfers – We'll pause ETH transfers for 10 minutes before the PoW chain reaches TTD of 58750000000000000000000 and take snapshot of your ETH assets. Transfers will resume once the snapshot is taken. We will not be making a separate announcement.
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Spot trading – ETH and ERC-20 token spot trading will not be affected. After the Merge, ETH spot trading pairs will remain the same on the PoS chain.
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Fiat services – ETH conversion to/from fiat currenc will not be affected.
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Convert – ETH conversion to/from other cryptos will not be affected.
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Earn – The six ERC-20 tokens in our Earn program – DAI, SNX, YFI, UNI, USDT, and USDC – will continue to accrue interest during the service pause. If you deposit ERC-20 tokens into the Earn program during the service pause, you may see a "processing" status. When service resumes, these tokens will begin to earn interest. You will not be able to redeem ERC-20 tokens from the Earn program until service resumes.
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ETH 2.0 staking – We will pause ETH 2.0 staking from 6:00 AM, September 14 — 6:00 AM September 16, 2022 (UTC). Distribution of BETH profits will not be affected.
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Margin trading – Trading of ETH cross and isolated margin pairs will not be affected. OKX will pause ETH margin borrowing and VIP borrowing services from 7:00 AM, September 14 — 16:00 PM, September 15, 2022 (UTC). Based on market conditions prior to the service pause, OKX may adjust interest rates for margin borrowing. We may also adjust ETH's margin discount rate tiers in multi-currency mode and portfolio margin mode. You will be notified of the adjustments in a separate announcement.
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Futures and perpetual swaps – ETHUSDT and ETHUSD futures trades, and ETHUSDT and ETHUSD perpetual swaps, will not be affected. Based on market conditions, OKX may adjust the margin tiers for ETH perpetual swaps and futures contracts. We may also adjust the funding rate and the price limits for ETH perpetual swaps. After the Merge, futures and perpetual swap contracts will track the ETH prices on the PoS chain.
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Options trading – ETHUSD options trading will not be affected. After the Merge, options contracts will track the ETH prices on the PoS chain. Based on market conditions, we may adjust the constituents for ETHUSDT and ETHUSD index prices and the mark price of ETH contracts.
Will OKX adjust its risk control parameters before the Merge?
In case the Merge leads to extreme market volatility, OKX will adjust its risk control parameters to improve price stability. The parameters below are estimates. Depending on market conditions, OKX may make additional adjustments.
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Price limits
Calculations:
| Phase | Upper limit | Lower limit |
| Within 10min after contract generated | Index *(1+X) | Index *(1-X) |
| 10min after contract generated | Min[Max(Index, Index *(1+Y) + Average premium in the last 10 minutes), Index *(1+Z)] | Max[Min(Index, Index *(1-Y)+ Average premium in the last 10 minutes), Index *(1-Z)] |
Adjustment rules:
| Timing | Contracts | Adjustment | X | Y | Z |
| 4:00 PM, September 14, 2022 (UTC) | ETHUSDT, ETHUSD Perpetual | Before | 2% | 2% | 5% |
| After | 6% | 6% | 15% | ||
| 4:00 PM, September 14, 2022 (UTC) | ETHUSDT, ETHUSD Futures | Before (Weekly/Bi-weekly) |
5% | 4% | 10% |
| After (Weekly/Bi-weekly) |
5% | 4% | 10% | ||
| Before (Quarterly/Bi-quarterly) |
5% | 6% | 25% | ||
| After (Quarterly/Bi-quarterly) |
5% | 6% | 25% |
Please note: we might make additional adjustments to the prices before the fork, depending on the market conditions. There will not be an additional announcement about the adjustments.
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Funding rate
Funding rate:
Funding rate = Clamp (MA ((Best bid price of contract + Best ask price of contract) / 2 - Index price of spot) / Index price of spot - Interest), a, b), in which Interest currently equals 0.
Adjustment rules:
| Timing | Contracts | Adjustment | Limit range of funding rate |
| 8:00 AM, September 13, 2022 (UTC) | ETHUSD and ETHUSDT perpetual swaps | Before | a=-0.75%, b=0.75% |
| ETHUSD and ETHUSDT perpetual swaps | After | a=-3%, b=3% |
Please note: we will adjust the funding rates at 8:00 AM, September 13, 2022 (UTC) and the new rates will become effective at 12:00 AM, September 14, 2022 (UTC). We might make additional adjustments to the prices ahead of time, depending on the market conditions. There will not be an additional announcement about the adjustments.
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Adjustments to ETH/USDT and ETH/USD index price components and ETH mark price
Based on market conditions, OKX may adjust the current constituent indices of ETH/USDT and ETH/USD.
The adjustments could be triggered by scenarios including but not limited to: one or more exchanges included in the index suspending trading (no available prices), and extreme price fluctuations of one or more index components.
Also, if a majority of the ETH/USDT and ETH/USD constituent indices show abnormal activity, OKX will consider replacing ETH-related contracts' mark price with the mid-price. In extreme circumstances, OKX reserves the right to suspend ETH spot and contracts trading.
After The Merge is complete and the market has stabilized, the mark price calculation rules will also return to normal. For more details, please refer to our support page on Mark price.
Adjustments to the mark price calculation rules may increase your liquidation risk. It may be advisable to adjust your margin positions.
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Adjustments to risk parameters for Spot Shock (MR1) and Basis Risk (MR4) in portfolio margin mode
This change is only applied to accounts in portfolio margin modes.
Effective time: Sep 14, 2022 6:00-7:00 (UTC)
(1) OKX will modify spot movement of ETH in Spot Shock (MR1) as ETH price may volatile around the merge.
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Crypto
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Maximum price change
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Before
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After
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ETH
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+/- 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%
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+/- 0%, 10%, 15%, 20%
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(2) Basis risk (MR4) arises from differences in contract prices for the same underlying with different expiry dates. As the forked asset might increase basis risk of ETH, OKX will modify the maximum change of forward contracts in MR4 to 5%.
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Crypto
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Maximum change of forward contracts
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Before
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After
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ETH
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1.5%
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5%
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For more details, please refer to our support page on Portfolio Margin mode: cross margin trading.
The above adjustments might increase the margin requirements for ETHUSD and ETHUSDT risk units for users in portfolio margin mode. Please ensure you take sufficient risk control measures.
Grow services
Savings and Staking will not be affected. Your invested ETH will be included in the snapshots.
Dual Investment and Smart Gain: ETH subscriptions (orders placed in ETH) confirmed before 7:00 AM, September 13 (UTC) and not settled before the Ethereum hard fork will be included in the snapshot and the airdrop. Subscriptions made after 7:00 AM, September 13 (UTC) or orders settled in USDT before the Merge will not be included in the snapshot or the airdrop.
For example, let's assume the Ethereum hard fork occurs on September 15, 2022.
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You invest ETH in Dual Investment or Smart Gain at 7:00 AM, September 12 (UTC) and your orders are to be settled at 10:00 AM, September 20 (UTC). In this case, you will receive airdropped forked tokens in the equivalent amount of the ETH you invested in Dual Investment or Smart Gain.
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You invest ETH in Dual Investment or Smart Gain at 7:00 AM, September 12 (UTC) and your orders are to be settled at 10:00 AM, September 14 (UTC). Because your orders will be settled before the Merge in ETH or USDT and the funds will be returned to your funding account, we will use the snapshot of your funding account to decide whether you will receive airdropped forked tokens for the ETH you invested in Dual Investment or Smart Gain.
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You invest ETH in Dual Investment or Smart Gain on September 14 and your orders are to be settled at 10:00 AM, September 20 (UTC). In this case, you will not receive airdropped tokens for the ETH you invested in Dual Investment or Smart Gain because your orders are placed later than 7:00 AM, September 13 (UTC).
DeFi deposits: Deposits in, and withdrawals from DeFi protocols will be suspended between 6:00 AM, September 14 — 6:00 AM September 16, 2022 (UTC). Redemption and profit distribution will be delayed. We do not know whether staked ETH assets in DeFi protocols will be included in the airdrop because we do not know how the hard-forked Ethereum chain handles Sushiswap contracts. If the hard-forked Ethereum chain is unable to support Sushiswap contracts, your staked ETH will probably not be included in the snapshot. To avoid this risk, it may be advisable to redeem your staked ETH before the snapshot.
We will make additional announcements when we have more info to share.
For any questions about this announcement, please feel free to contact us in the official OKX Telegram group or via the Support Center.
OKX
September 13, 2022 (UTC)
