Health Factor

An indicator of your loans' health.

A health factor is a measure of the collateralization level of a borrower's position. It is used to assess the risk associated with a borrower's debt and to determine whether the borrower's position is sufficiently collateralized to protect the lender's funds.

The health factor is typically expressed as a ratio, representing the amount of collateral relative to the amount of debt. A health factor of 1 or higher indicates that the borrower's position is adequately collateralized, while a health factor below 1 suggests that the position is undercollateralized.

For example, let's say a borrower wants to borrow $10,000 worth of a cryptocurrency and provides $20,000 worth of another cryptocurrency as collateral. The health factor in this case would be 2, as the collateral value is twice the borrowed amount. This indicates a healthy and secure borrowing position.

If the value of the collateral decreases significantly or the borrowed amount increases, the health factor can drop below the threshold, triggering potential liquidation of the collateral to protect the lender. In such an event, up to 50% of the borrowing debt is repaid. This is taken from the collateral from the borrower (plus a fee which is for the liquidator as a reward for keeping the protocol healthy). It's important for borrowers to monitor their health factor and ensure it remains above the specified threshold to avoid liquidation and potential loss of collateral. Additionally, borrowers should consider fluctuations in collateral and borrowed assets' values to maintain a comfortable health factor level throughout the borrowing period.

Our docs have different pages explaining the whole process, so keep reading if you want to know more