arXiv · arXiv q-fin · 2021
We build an optimal portfolio liquidation model for OTC markets, aiming at minimizing the trading costs via the choice of the liquidation time. We work in the Locally Linear Order Book framework of \cite{toth2011anomalous} to obtain the market impact as a function of the traded volume. We find that the optimal terminal time for a linear execution of a small order is proportional to the square root of the ratio betwee…
Mike Weber, Iuliia Manziuk, Bastien Baldacci
arXiv · arXiv q-fin · 2016
We consider trading against a hedge fund or large trader that must liquidate a large position in a risky asset if the market price of the asset crosses a certain threshold. Liquidation occurs in a disorderly manner and negatively impacts the market price of the asset. We consider the perspective of small investors whose trades do not induce market impact and who possess different levels of information about the liqui…
Caroline Hillairet, Cody Hyndman, Ying Jiao, Renjie Wang
arXiv · arXiv · 2025
We study opportunistic optimal liquidation over fixed deadlines on BTC-USD limit-order books (LOB). We present RL-Exec, a PPO agent trained on historical replays augmented with endogenous transient impact (resilience), partial fills, maker/taker fees, and latency. The policy observes depth-20 LOB features plus microstructure indicators and acts under a sell-only inventory constraint to reach a residual target. Evalua…
Enzo Duflot, Stanislas Robineau
arXiv · arXiv · 2016
We solve explicitly a two-dimensional singular control problem of finite fuel type for infinite time horizon. The problem stems from the optimal liquidation of an asset position in a financial market with multiplicative and transient price impact. Liquidity is stochastic in that the volume effect process, which determines the inter-temporal resilience of the market in spirit of Predoiu, Shaikhet and Shreve (2011), is…
Dirk Becherer, Todor Bilarev, Peter Frentrup
arXiv · arXiv · 2026
We study seven major crypto-perpetual liquidation cascades (2022-2025), and in the largest of them we can watch the mechanism directly. From the on-chain fill log of a fully transparent venue we measure the branching ratio of that event -- the October 2025 crash, the largest on record -- in flight, with both of its factors observed and no free constants. It ran deeply subcritical: the structural ratio and the amplifi…
Ramon Marc Garcia Seuma
arXiv · arXiv · 2026
A physically backed leveraged event position requires real credit: if collateral C receives leverage L, the protocol supplies (L-1)C and uses the combined amount to acquire recognized event exposure. This paper develops a venue-agnostic on-chain credit architecture for that capital layer and an endogenous model of its capital market. It separates traders, Senior Credit LPs, market makers, liquidators, and Liquidation…
Maksym Nechepurenko
arXiv · arXiv · 2025
We derive a slippage-aware toxicity condition for on-chain liquidations executed via a constant-product automated market maker (CP-AMM). For a fixed (constant) liquidation incentive $i$, the familiar toxicity frontier $ν< 1/(1+i)$ tightens to $ν< 1/((1+i)λ)$ for a liquidity penalty factor $λ$ that we derive for both the CP-AMM and a generalised form. Using a dynamic health-linked liquidation incentive $i(h) = i(1 - h…
Alexander McFarlane
arXiv · arXiv · 2016
This paper presents several models addressing optimal portfolio choice, optimal portfolio liquidation, and optimal portfolio transition issues, in which the expected returns of risky assets are unknown. Our approach is based on a coupling between Bayesian learning and dynamic programming techniques that leads to partial differential equations. It enables to recover the well-known results of Karatzas and Zhao in a fra…
Alexis Bismuth, Olivier Guéant, Jiang Pu
arXiv · arXiv · 2016
In this paper, we generalize the Almgren-Chriss's market impact model to a more realistic and flexible framework and employ it to derive and analyze some aspects of optimal liquidation problem in a security market. We illustrate how a trader's liquidation strategy alters when multiple venues and extra information are brought into the security market and detected by the trader. This study gives some new insights into …
Qing-Qing Yang, Wai-Ki Ching, Jia-Wen Gu, Tak-Kuen Siu
arXiv · arXiv · 2015
In this paper, we consider the optimal portfolio liquidation problem under the dynamic mean-variance criterion and derive time-consistent solutions in three important models. We give adapted optimal strategies under a reconsidered mean-variance subject at any point in time. We get explicit trading strategies in the basic model and when random pricing signals are incorporated. When we consider stochastic liquidity and…
Jia-Wen Gu, Mogens Steffensen
arXiv · arXiv · 2014
Management of the portfolios containing low liquidity assets is a tedious problem. The buyer proposes the price that can differ greatly from the paper value estimated by the seller, the seller, on the other hand, can not liquidate his portfolio instantly and waits for a more favorable offer. To minimize losses in this case we need to develop new methods. One of the steps moving the theory towards practical needs is t…
Ljudmila A. Bordag, Ivan P. Yamshchikov, Dmitry Zhelezov
arXiv · arXiv · 2011
This paper studies the optimal timing to liquidate credit derivatives in a general intensity-based credit risk model under stochastic interest rate. We incorporate the potential price discrepancy between the market and investors, which is characterized by risk-neutral valuation under different default risk premia specifications. We quantify the value of optimally timing to sell through the concept of delayed liquidat…
Tim Leung, Peng Liu
arXiv · arXiv · 2011
This paper addresses the optimal scheduling of the liquidation of a portfolio using a new angle. Instead of focusing only on the scheduling aspect like Almgren and Chriss, or only on the liquidity-consuming orders like Obizhaeva and Wang, we link the optimal trade-schedule to the price of the limit orders that have to be sent to the limit order book to optimally liquidate a portfolio. Most practitioners address these…
Olivier Guéant, Charles-Albert Lehalle, Joaquin Fernandez Tapia
arXiv · arXiv · 2025
We study the optimal liquidation problem in both lit and dark pools for investors facing execution uncertainty in a continuous-time setting with market impact. First, we design an optimal make--take fee policy for a large investor liquidating her position across both pools, interacting with small investors who pay trading fees. We explicitly characterize the large investor's optimal liquidation strategies in both lit…
Thibaut Mastrolia, Hao Wang
arXiv · arXiv · 2024
We study a stochastic control problem with regime switching arising in an optimal liquidation problem with dark pools and multiple regimes. The new feature of this model is that it introduces a system of BSDEs with jumps and with singular terminal values, which appears in literature for the first time. The existence result for this system is obtained. As a result, we solve the stochastic control problem with regime s…
Guanxing Fu, Xiaomin Shi, Zuo Quan Xu
arXiv · arXiv · 2024
We consider both $N$-player and mean-field games of optimal portfolio liquidation in which the players are not allowed to change the direction of trading. Players with an initially short position of stocks are only allowed to buy while players with an initially long position are only allowed to sell the stock. Under suitable conditions on the model parameters we show that the games are equivalent to games of timing w…
Guanxing Fu, Paul P. Hager, Ulrich Horst
arXiv · arXiv · 2023
Liquidations in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) are both a blessing and a curse -- whereas liquidations prevent lenders from capital loss, they simultaneously lead to liquidation spirals and system-wide failures. Since most lending and borrowing protocols assume liquidations are indispensable, there is an increased interest in alternative constructions that prevent immediate systemic-failure under uncertain circumstance…
Kaihua Qin, Jens Ernstberger, Liyi Zhou, Philipp Jovanovic, Arthur Gervais
arXiv · arXiv · 2021
Financial speculators often seek to increase their potential gains with leverage. Debt is a popular form of leverage, and with over 39.88B USD of total value locked (TVL), the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) lending markets are thriving. Debts, however, entail the risks of liquidation, the process of selling the debt collateral at a discount to liquidators. Nevertheless, few quantitative insights are known about the exi…
Kaihua Qin, Liyi Zhou, Pablo Gamito, Philipp Jovanovic, Arthur Gervais