What Is the Practical Difference between a Maintenance Margin Call and a Variation Margin Call?
A maintenance margin call (or remedial margin call) occurs when the account equity falls below the maintenance margin level, requiring the trader to deposit funds to restore it to the initial margin level. A variation margin call is essentially the daily cash settlement of losses due to marking-to-market.
The former is about restoring capital, the latter is about daily settlement.
Glossar
Variation Margin
Collateral ⎊ Variation Margin represents a dynamic adjustment to posted collateral requirements in cryptocurrency derivatives markets, reflecting real-time mark-to-market losses on open positions.
Maintenance Margin
Collateral ⎊ Within cryptocurrency derivatives and options trading, the maintenance margin represents the minimum equity a trader must maintain in their account to cover potential losses.
Margin Call
Trigger ⎊ A margin call in cryptocurrency, options, and derivatives markets represents a broker’s demand for additional funds to bring an account back to the minimum required margin.