Liquidations on Spark

Liquidations on Spark occur when the Health Factor of a position dips below 1. Depending on how low the Health Factor is, either a partial or full liquidation of the position can occur. This is known as Spark's "Variable Liquidation Close Factor".

The criteria are:

  • If the Health Factor is below 1 but above 0.95 - Then 50% of the position's collateral can be liquidated

  • If the Health Factor is below 0.95 - Then 100% of the position's collateral can be liquidated

At this point - liquidators can step in, repay part (or all) of the borrower’s debt, and receive their collateral at a discounted rate. This discount is the liquidation bonus and is the liquidator’s profit opportunity.

The amount they're allowed to liquidate depends on how low the user’s health factor is (detailed above), and whether it’s worthwhile depends on whether the bonus they receive is larger than the gas costs.

Liquidators simply need to hold (or flash-borrow) the debt asset, identify unhealthy accounts, and call liquidationCall() to claim the discounted collateral. This is typically done via bots that are created by the liquidators.

The liquidation penalty amount varies per collateral asset, and can be viewed by hovering over the Market Info section for the collateral assets.

How to avoid liquidations on Spark

Seeing as the main factors that influence your risk of liquidation are the value of your collateral and debt, the most basic tools to keep you safe are Supply (supplying more collateral) and Pay Back (repaying your debt directly from your wallet).

However, DeFi Saver offers more advanced tools that make keeping your position safe more efficient. These include:

  • Repay - By utilizing a flash loan, it lets you clear your debt using your collateral directly from the position.

  • Collateral switch - Allows you to change your collateral asset to a stablecoin so you're no longer affected by price falls.

  • Automations - Include Repay on target price and Automated Leverage Management, which maintains your position at a specific Safety Ratio range by using automated Repays.

  • Close - Unwinds your position in one transaction. It achieves this by utilizing a flash loan to clear all of your debt using the collateral from your position, and withdrawing the remaining collateral to your main (EOA) wallet.

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