Bitget launches Stock+ margin financing and short selling service for U.S. stocks

To meet users' diverse trading needs and improve capital efficiency, Bitget officially launched the Stock+ margin financing and short selling service for U.S. stocks on August 14, 2026. Users only need to open a Bitget Stock+ account to use this feature. During the promotion period, the annualized interest rate for short selling is as low as 0%. Please update to the latest version to try it out.

The initial launch supports margin financing for over 3,800 assets and short selling for over 2,300 assets (currently only ETB assets are supported for short selling). Up to 3x leverage is supported.

Margin financing refers to a trading activity in which you use securities or assets in your account as collateral to borrow additional funds from Bitget to buy securities, paying the corresponding interest and transaction fees.

• Also known as leveraged trading, margin trading, margin financing, or leverage

• When a customer expects the price of a stock to rise in the future, they use funds in their account (margin) as collateral to borrow money from Bitget to buy the stock, gaining a larger position size (leverage) with less of their own capital

Short selling, also known as shorting, refers to a trading activity in which you use securities or assets as collateral to borrow securities from Bitget and sell them, then buy back the same quantity of securities at a later time to return them, paying the corresponding interest and transaction fees.

• Also known as shorting, securities borrowing, or short selling

• Once the stock price falls, buy back the same quantity of shares at a lower price to return them, profiting from the "sell high, buy low" price difference

• When a customer expects the price of a stock to fall in the future, and does not hold the stock, they can use the funds in their account (margin) as collateral to

borrow the stock from the broker and sell it

All Bitget Stock+ accounts have a margin financing account opened by default. There is no need to apply separately for margin financing/short selling features.

 

How to use margin financing and short selling

1. Open a Bitget Stock+ account

2. On the stock page, tap the top-right corner to check whether the asset supports margin financing/short selling

3. Tap through to view the margin requirements and the annual interest rate for margin financing/short selling on that stock

 

Margin mechanism

Initial margin (IM): The margin requirement to be deposited when opening a position

Maintenance margin (MM): The level that equity assets must be maintained at

Liquidation margin (FM): If equity assets fall below this level, the position may be liquidated immediately

IM/MM/FM requirement = Sum of (market value of each investment product × corresponding margin coefficient)

Total account assets = Cash balance + total market value of positions

Margin call / liquidation mechanism

• The margin call amount is the difference between the initial margin and the total account assets.

• When total account assets fall below the maintenance margin level, the company will issue a margin call notice.

• Customers must settle the margin call shortfall within 72 hours of receiving the notice.

Level	Name	Trigger action
Level 1	Initial margin (IM)	Threshold for opening a position; orders cannot be placed if this is not met
Level 2	Maintenance margin (MM)	Triggers a margin call; the customer must add funds or close the position within 72 hours
Level 3	Liquidation margin (FM)	Triggers automatic liquidation; the system closes the position directly without further notice

Example: margin call case

 

 

After the customer buys the stock, once the market value of stock B falls, the customer's position is as follows:

Cash owed	$15,000
Initial margin on positions	$12,500 ($5,000 × 50% + $20,000 × 50%)
Maintenance margin on positions	$11,000 ($5,000 × 40% + $20,000 × 45%)
Total account assets	$10,000 (-$15,000 + $5,000 + $20,000)
Margin call	$2500 ($12,500 - $10,000)

The customer must bring their total account assets up to the initial margin requirement by the specified date, either by transferring in assets or closing positions.

When total assets fall below the liquidation margin, the margin call shortfall must be settled immediately, otherwise the position may be liquidated immediately.

 

Fee details

Margin financing fees

[Annual margin financing interest rate = 5%]

Daily interest = Margin financing amount after the day's close × 5% annual interest rate / 360

Calculated on a calendar-day basis, charged monthly (interest is deducted on the last trading day)

The minimum interest amount is $0.01; amounts below this are not charged interest (rounded)

• On weekends or non-trading days, margin financing interest is charged based on the last closing price (the price at 4:00 PM ET)

• Interest starts accruing after T+1 settlement

 

• The customer sells AAPL at $350/share on Friday. The settlement time for the sale proceeds is the following Monday (T+1).
  • The actual margin financing interest charged is 1,500 × annual interest rate / 360 × 3 days *the 3 days are the overnight interest for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

• If the customer sells to close the position on Thursday, the margin financing was not held overnight, so no interest is charged.

 

Short selling fees

Current promotional rate: annual short selling interest rate = 0%

Daily interest = Settled short sale quantity × (closing price × 102%) × 0% annual interest rate / 360

Calculated on a calendar-day basis, charged monthly (interest is deducted on the last trading day)

The minimum interest amount is $0.01; amounts below this are not charged interest (rounded)

If an asset changes from ETB to HTB, interest will be incurred - the interest is calculated based on the rate returned by the clearing firm

• Note that short selling interest is charged based on 360 calendar days per year

• On weekends or non-trading days, margin financing interest is charged based on the last closing price (the price at 4:00 PM ET)

• Interest starts accruing after T+1 settlement

• The ×102% is a standard industry calculation rule

 

• If the customer buys back AAPL at $250/share on Friday to close the position, the settlement time for the buy order is the following Monday (T+1).
  • The actual margin financing interest charged is 3,300 × 102% × annual interest rate / 360 × 3 days the 3 days are the overnight interest for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

• If the customer buys to close the position on Thursday, the short position was not held overnight, so no interest is charged.

 

Margin financing advance interest

If the cash in the account is insufficient to cover the collateral amount required to close a short position, the shortfall will be treated as a margin financing advance provided by the broker to the customer, and interest will be charged on the shortfall at the margin financing interest rate.

 

• If BABA rises and the market value of the short position becomes -$200,000, the collateral required to close the position is $200,000. The account has $220,000 in cash, leaving $20,000 after covering the requirement, so there is no shortfall;
• If BABA continues to rise and the market value of the short position becomes -$300,000, the customer would need $300,000 to buy back and close the position. Since the collateral requirement exceeds what the account's cash can cover, the $80,000 shortfall is treated as drawing on the margin financing limit and will be charged interest at the margin financing interest rate.

 

Special notes on short selling

Dividends

If a dividend is distributed while the customer holds a short position, and the customer still holds the short position on the ex-dividend date, the equivalent dividend amount will be deducted on the dividend payment date (cash dividends will deduct cash, while stock dividends will deduct fractional shares).

Forced buy-in

This refers to the broker (or upstream clearing firm) being forced to buy shares in the market to return them to the lender, either because it can no longer borrow the shares or because the borrower has violated the lending agreement. After a buy-in, the customer's short position will be forcibly closed, and any transaction commissions, fees, and spread losses resulting from the buy-in will be borne by the customer. (Forced buy-ins generally do not occur for ETB assets available for short selling.)

 

FAQ

Q1: My account cash increased after shorting. Can I withdraw it?

• No. The cash proceeds from a short sale are fully frozen to guarantee that the shares can be bought back in the future. This amount is not included in the withdrawable balance.

Q2: Why was my short sell order rejected, or why is the available quantity so limited?

Position conflict: If you hold the underlying stock, you must sell it to close the position before you can open a short position.

Insufficient buying power: For market orders, the system calculates the margin based on the best bid price × 110% × order quantity, to prevent excessive short selling.

Q3: How long after receiving a margin call will my position be liquidated?

• There is usually a 72-hour window to resolve it. However, if the account's net value continues to deteriorate and falls below the liquidation margin, the system will automatically liquidate the position immediately without further notice.

Q4: How long after a deposit or position closure will a margin call be lifted?

• If the deposit or position closure amount is enough to meet the initial margin ratio, the margin call will be lifted immediately.

Q5: If a stock pays a dividend, will short positions be charged?

• Yes. If the short position is still held on the trading day before the ex-dividend date, the equivalent dividend amount will be deducted on the dividend payment date.

Q6: Is margin financing supported for options?

• Margin financing is not supported for options trading. However, if the underlying stock supports margin financing, the customer can use their margin financing limit to buy the stock upon exercise.

Q7: Why does buying an option show a warning that "margin financing will be used"?

• If a customer buys an in-the-money option, or an out-of-the-money option close to being in-the-money, after 11:00 AM ET on the expiration date, the customer will be required to hold sufficient covering funds (for calls) or covered shares (for puts) when opening the position.

Q8: Is short selling supported for options?

• If a customer holds an ITM long put and: 1) the underlying asset supports short selling, 2) the customer has not submitted a DNE (do-not-exercise) request, and 3) the customer has sufficient buying power to exercise, then after market close on the expiration date, exercising this option will result in a short sale of 100 shares × number of contracts at the strike price.