Most perp exchanges have a collateral problem.
Not a technical one — accepting multiple assets as collateral is solvable engineering. The problem is that every asset accepted as collateral introduces valuation risk the protocol has to manage. So the practical choice has been to accept stablecoins, solve the valuation problem trivially, and tell traders to convert everything else before they trade.
AnyCollateral is a different approach. The more interesting part isn't the feature itself — it's what the feature implies about how capital can work.
What AnyCollateral Does
The mechanics are covered in the Getting Started guide and the launch announcement. The short version:
LeverUp accepts MON, LVMON, and LVUSD as collateral alongside USDC. Each non-stablecoin asset carries a Collateral Ratio (CR) — a discount applied to account for price volatility. $100 of MON at 70% CR provides $70 of available margin.
Traders hold leveraged positions without converting to USDC first. The collateral stays in its original form; the protocol manages the valuation risk.
The Capital Efficiency Argument
Here's what's actually different.
In a USDC-only system, a trader with MON has to:
- Sell MON for USDC
- Use USDC as collateral to open a position
- Buy back MON after closing
At each step: swap fees, potential slippage, a taxable event in many jurisdictions, and a period where MON exposure is interrupted.
With AnyCollateral:
- MON or LVMON is locked as supported collateral
- The position opens while the trader retains economic exposure to the collateral
- Settlement follows applicable protocol rules when the position closes
This removes the need to convert into USDC before trading. Eligible LVMON can be staked for variable rewards, or used as supported collateral for trading.
This is the capital efficiency argument: assets stay in their most productive configuration, and the protocol absorbs the complexity of managing their valuation. It's not a convenience feature — it's a different theory of how capital should work.
What This Means for the Monad Ecosystem
The more important question isn't what AnyCollateral does for individual traders. It's what it does at the ecosystem level.
Every supported Monad ecosystem token added to AnyCollateral becomes usable as margin while the trader retains economic exposure to the collateral asset, subject to its own mechanics and the protocol's collateral rules.
For Monad projects building token economies, this matters. A token usable as trading margin on LeverUp has a utility layer beyond speculation. And for LeverUp, each new token integration extends the collateral layer's reach into the ecosystem.
As the Monad ecosystem develops RWA assets — tokenized T-bills, tokenized commodities — holders may want to use supported assets as collateral without first selling them. AnyCollateral provides a framework for eligible assets to be reviewed and configured as margin under the protocol's collateral rules.
The pattern: assets stay productive, the protocol handles the complexity, and capital circulates rather than sitting idle as USDC waiting for the next trade.
The Risk Layer
It's worth being direct about what AnyCollateral introduces.
Non-stablecoin collateral means a second source of price risk. Using MON as collateral for a BTC long means:
- BTC price moves affect position PnL
- MON price moves affect collateral value
- Both shift the liquidation threshold independently
This isn't a reason to avoid AnyCollateral. It's a reason to understand what you're doing before using it. USDC collateral isolates risk to the traded market. MON collateral adds a correlated risk layer that requires active monitoring.
The protocol manages this through Collateral Ratios — conservative enough to create a buffer between collateral value and margin requirement, but not so conservative that they eliminate the efficiency gain. CR values can change as the protocol adjusts to market conditions. Check the interface at trade time, not just the documentation.
For how CR affects available margin and how to monitor it, see How to Use AnyCollateral.
The Direction
AnyCollateral launched with four assets. The program is designed to grow — Monad ecosystem projects can apply at ac.leverup.xyz, and new assets are reviewed based on on-chain liquidity and community traction.
The direction is toward a collateral layer that covers the meaningful breadth of the Monad ecosystem. Not every asset belongs as collateral — liquidity, price stability, and on-chain history are real constraints. But the assets that meet those criteria currently sit idle in wallets when they could be working.
That's the inefficiency AnyCollateral is built to close. And as more assets meet the bar, the collateral layer's reach expands — one integration at a time.