If you are new to leverage, do not rush to borrow. Turn on this "cooling-off period" first. It works like a safety lock. Once it is on, you cannot borrow even if you want to. It forces you to think before you act.
What is the cooling-off period in one sentence?
It is a feature in the margin account that pauses borrowing. It is not the futures cooling-off period. When it is on, your cross margin and isolated margin accounts cannot borrow any more funds for 1 day, 3 days, or 1 week.
Core rules: If you have any open orders (orders that have not filled) before turning it on, you must cancel them first. Otherwise you cannot enable it. Also, once it is on, you cannot turn it off early. It will only end automatically at the set time.
Set the cooling-off period before your first leveraged trade
Do not think this is unnecessary. New users often get excited before using leverage. The cooling-off period helps you slow down. Before your first borrow, set it to 1 day or 3 days. Even if you just want to test the feature, you still need to pass this step.
How to do it (Web): Log in to Binance → top right [Wallet] → [Margin Account] → top right [⋮] → [Borrowing Cooling-off]. Or go directly from [Trade] → [Margin Trading] and click the settings icon in the order area on the trading page, then choose [Cooling-off Period].
How to do it (App): Bottom [Trade] → top left switch [Spot] to [Margin] → top right [...] → choose [Cooling-off Period].
After entering, turn on the switch and choose the duration. Before your first order, choose "Today" or "3 days".
Completion check: The page should say "Borrowing is paused" and show the end time of your cooling-off period (for example, "It will end automatically today at 23:59:59").
What you can and cannot do during the cooling-off period
Can: Transfer funds into your margin account, manually repay debt, and make trades that do not involve borrowing (for example, you have your own funds and do not need to borrow).
Cannot: Any kind of margin borrowing. Whether you click "Borrow" manually or use the auto-borrow feature to place a buy order, the system will block it.
Common failure reason: open orders not canceled before enabling
If you have open orders (limit orders that have not filled), you will get an error when you try to enable the cooling-off period. Go to [Orders] → [Open Orders] first, cancel all open orders, then come back and enable it.
Risk reminder: once enabled, do not expect to reverse it
Once the cooling-off period is on, it cannot be ended early. You must wait for the time to run out. If you accidentally set a long cooling-off period and suddenly want to borrow, you can only wait for it to expire and unlock automatically. So for your first time, choose the shortest option "Today" (which ends tonight at 23:59:59). That is the safest.
How to verify you set it correctly
Go to the [Margin Account] page and check. If the "Borrow" related buttons are grayed out, or if you get an error saying "Currently in cooling-off period" when you click Borrow, then it is working. If you want to test, you can click the "Borrow" button. The system will tell you that you cannot borrow during the cooling-off period. Then you can relax.
