How liquidity margin works.
Keel is the liquidity margin layer on Robinhood Chain. This page explains the whole system: plainly enough to read once, precisely enough to underwrite.
Overview
Keel positions Stock Tokens, crypto and stablecoins into onchain liquidity markets, where they earn a share of trading fees. At the same time, Keel treats those positions as collateral inside one unified margin account. The result is capital that keeps earning while unlocking additional buying power for your next move.
The same capital performs both jobs at once. Neither output requires unwinding the position. Traditionally those were exclusive: capital in a liquidity position was trapped until you unwound it. Keel removes the tradeoff by valuing the position itself, so the capital never has to leave the market to be useful again.
Core concepts
Six terms carry the whole system. Everything else is detail.
- Keel Position
- An active liquidity position managed through Keel: capital deployed into one market, earning a share of its trading fees.
- Keel Account
- Your combined liquidity and margin account. Every position you hold contributes to one balance sheet, not a list of isolated deposits.
- Position Value
- The current market value of the assets inside an Keel Position, marked continuously.
- Collateral Value
- The risk-adjusted portion of a position’s value that counts toward borrowing. Always less than position value; set by the risk engine, not a fixed ratio.
- Buying Power
- The additional capital the account can safely access right now, given its collateral value, existing debt and the protocol’s health floor.
- Account Health
- Collateral value divided by debt. Above the floor the account is safe; at the floor, positions are reduced to restore it.
Liquidity positioning
Every market needs inventory available for people to trade against. Liquidity providers supply both assets of a pair, and in return collect a share of the fee paid on every trade the market executes.
An Keel Position concentrates that liquidity into a range: the band of prices where the capital actually works. Inside the band the position facilitates trades and earns; at the band’s edge it needs repositioning.
How wide to set the band is the core strategic choice. Keel curates it into three named strategies rather than infinite dials:
| Strategy | Band | Fee capture | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | Wide | Steady | A durable band around the market. Lower fee capture per dollar, steadier collateral value, rarely leaves range. |
| Focused | Tight | High | Concentrated around the working price. Captures more fees while in range; needs repositioning when price moves. |
| Broad | Maximum | Low | Coverage across the full range. Almost never idle, thinnest fee capture. Closest to a passive holding. |
The margin account
Keel does not treat each position as an isolated vault. Supported positions are combined into one account, and the risk engine assigns each position two figures, not one. Every position is discounted twice from the same market value: once by its collateral factor, giving what the account may borrow against, and once by its liquidation threshold, giving what keeps it solvent. The threshold is always the higher of the two.
The gap between them is the point. A borrow is refused at the borrow limit; a liquidator can only act once health falls through 1.00. Nothing you do can put your own account within reach of a liquidator, because every action you take is checked against the stricter of the two numbers.
| Position | Position value | Fees earned | Collateral value |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDA / USDG | $16,400 | +$612 | $6,240 |
| AAPL / USDG | $8,300 | +$241 | $3,019 |
| Account · $25,553 total | $24,700 | +$853 | $9,259 |
With $8,200 borrowed, remaining buying power is $9,259 − $8,200 = $1,059. Health measures the same positions at liquidation thresholds instead: $10,185 ÷ $8,200 = 1.24. Drawing every last dollar of buying power would still leave the account above the floor.
Position lifecycle
Eight steps from deposit to redeployment. The protocol runs 03–07 continuously.
- 01
Deposit
A supported asset (Stock Token, crypto or stablecoin) is deposited into Keel.
- 02
Position
Keel deploys the assets into the selected market and strategy, where they stand ready for traders to trade against.
- 03
Value
The position’s underlying assets are marked continuously, producing a live position value and a risk-adjusted collateral value.
- 04
Earn
Every trade routed through the market pays a fee. The position collects its share for the liquidity it supplies.
- 05
Collateralize
Eligible positions contribute their collateral value to the account’s combined borrowing capacity.
- 06
Borrow
Supported assets can be drawn against that combined value, without touching the positions underneath.
- 07
Manage risk
Keel monitors account health continuously and applies the protocol’s collateral and liquidation parameters.
- 08
Reposition
Capital is rebalanced, redeployed or used to open the next position. The loop repeats.
The risk engine
Keel does not hand every position a static loan-to-value. Collateral value is derived continuously from what a position actually holds and what it is actually exposed to, so buying power expands and contracts with real conditions rather than a table.
Liquidation
If account health falls to the protocol floor, Keel reduces positions, starting with those contributing most to the breach, until health recovers. Reductions execute at prevailing market prices and carry a protocol-defined penalty. An account that never borrows can never be liquidated: without debt there is no floor to breach.
Markets
The launch set is curated, not exhaustive: markets deep enough to earn and sound enough to collateralise.
| Category | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stock liquidity | NVDA · AAPL · MSFT · GOOGL · AMZN · TSLA, each against USDG | Stock Token pairs. Collateral factors tighten outside traditional market hours. |
| Crypto liquidity | ETH / USDG | Ether, as the wrapped form. The chain is EVM, so it is the one non-equity here. |
Risks
Keel makes capital more productive; it does not make it safe. Read this section as carefully as the rest.
Market risk and divergence loss
A liquidity position holds both assets of its pair. If prices move, its value can lag simply holding the assets. That cost is usually called impermanent loss. Fees offset it; they do not guarantee covering it.
Liquidation risk
Borrowing adds debt against collateral whose value moves. If health reaches the protocol floor, positions are reduced automatically to restore it, at prevailing prices, whether or not those prices are favourable.
Recursion risk
Redeploying borrowed buying power compounds exposure as well as productivity. Each loop adds leverage; the risk engine constrains it, but the direction of the risk is yours.
Oracle and market-hours risk
Stock Tokens reference markets that close; onchain trading does not. Outside traditional hours, price feeds carry more uncertainty and collateral factors tighten accordingly.
Protocol and smart-contract risk
Keel is software deployed onchain, and v1 has not been audited. It is tested, and testing finds the defects it was written to look for and no others. An audit would reduce that risk without eliminating it, and none has happened yet. Never deposit more than you can afford to lose.
Parameter risk
Collateral factors, health floors and eligible markets are protocol parameters. They adjust as conditions change, which can change your buying power without any action on your part.
FAQ
Do I have to borrow?
No. Positioning liquidity and earning fees works on its own. An account with no debt has no health floor to breach and cannot be liquidated.
What can I deposit?
Supported Stock Tokens, crypto and stablecoins on Robinhood Chain. The launch set is listed under Markets and is curated rather than exhaustive.
Is the yield guaranteed?
No, and Keel does not quote one. Fee income rises with trading volume and tighter ranges, and a position can still underperform simply holding its assets.
What happens when stock markets close?
Onchain trading continues around the clock. Outside traditional hours the price feeds behind Stock Tokens carry more uncertainty, so collateral factors tighten until they reopen.
Can I lose my position?
If you borrow and account health falls to the protocol floor, positions are reduced at prevailing market prices until health recovers, with a protocol-defined penalty. Without debt, that cannot happen.
Is Keel custodial?
No. Keel is decentralised protocol software. Assets sit in protocol contracts you interact with directly, and no intermediary holds them on your behalf.
Keel Liquidity is decentralised protocol software. Nothing on this page is investment, financial or legal advice. Figures are illustrative and do not represent past or expected performance.