Understanding Buyout and Economic Value Settlement (EVS)
Sometimes you may want to close your LTO contract without paying the remaining obligation from your wallet balance.
BitLease gives you the option to settle your contract using the leased asset's own market value.
This is called Buyout, and the underlying mechanism is what the platform defines as Economic Value Settlement (EVS).
This article explains how buyouts work, when to use it, and the two payment methods available.
What is Buyout?
Buyout is a way to close your LTO contract entirely by settling the remaining obligation in a single action. You choose how to fund the settlement: either from the value of the leased asset itself, or directly from your LTO Wallet balance.
When you use the asset's value to pay, the platform liquidates the portion needed to cover your debt. Any remaining value (the surplus) stays with you as Free assets in your LTO Wallet. The Institutional Product Framework defines this process as Economic Value Settlement: "Assets sold. Debt deducted. Surplus returned. No damage to future eligibility unless abused."
How to Access Buyout
Go to Owning in the top navigation bar.
On the contract card, click Buyout. Alternatively, open the Contract Details page and click Buyout in the bottom action bar.
The Buyout LTO page loads with a Live Execution Environment indicator.
Understanding the Buyout Page
The Buyout page displays the following information.
Select Contract — Your active contract is shown under Active Position with its contract ID and asset quantity.
Fair Market Value — The current live market value of your leased asset.
Settlement Obligation — The total remaining amount you owe to close the contract.
Payment Source — Set to From LTO Wallet, with two settlement methods available.
Two Settlement Methods
Via Asset
This method uses a portion of the leased asset to cover your obligation. The platform shows exactly how much of the asset is required to pay off your debt. The description on the page reads: "Liquidate portion of asset to cover obligation. Keep remaining profit."
This is ideal when your asset's market value exceeds your remaining obligation and you want to close the contract without using your stablecoin balance.
From LTO Wallet
This method pays the full obligation directly from your LTO Wallet balance using USDT or other available stablecoins. The description reads: "Pay full obligation from LTO Wallet. Keep 100% of the asset."
This is ideal when you want to retain the entire asset and have a sufficiently stablecoin balance in your LTO Wallet.
For more information, please see the following:
How to Manage Active LTO Contract
What Happens After Buyout
After clicking Review Order and confirming the transaction, the following occurs.
Via Asset: The system sells the required portion of your leased asset, deducts the outstanding debt, and returns any surplus to you as Free assets in your LTO Wallet. The contract closes permanently.
From LTO Wallet: Your stablecoin balance covers the full obligation. The entire leased asset transitions from Locked to Free. On-chain ownership transfers to you. The contract closes permanently.
In both cases, the contract moves to the Closed tab on the Owning page with the OWNED badge.
When to Use Buyout vs Settle Now
Settle Now (Pay Installments) — Use this when you want to pay one or more upcoming installments, or pay all remaining installments at once from your stablecoin balance. This is the standard path for completing your contract on schedule or ahead of schedule.
Buyout (Via Asset) — Use this when you want to close the contract using the asset's own value, particularly if the asset has appreciated and you prefer not to use your stablecoin balance. The surplus stays with you.
Buyout (From LTO Wallet) — Use this when you want to settle in one step and keep the full asset. Functionally similar to paying all remaining installments at once, but processed as a single settlement transaction.
Key Points to Remember
Buyout via Asset is for full contract closure only. You cannot use the leased asset's value to pay individual installments. This option settles the entire remaining obligation.
EVS does not negatively affect your eligibility. Unless abused, using Economic Value Settlement does not damage your future ability to open new LTO contracts.
The execution follows the Execution Spread policy. When the asset is sold during Buyout, the transaction is processed under BitLease's Execution Spread, which is a controlled deviation governed by internal market-risk and compliance rules.
Need Help?
If you encounter issues, contact BitLease Support:
Email: support@bitlease.com
Subject: "LTO contract Buyout"
Include: A description of the problem, any error messages, and steps you’ve already tried.
Response Time: Within 24 hours.
For urgent security concerns, email: security@bitlease.com.