What is a liquidation price?
When you trade with leverage, you only put in part of the position yourself. That part is your margin. If the price moves against you far enough that your losses almost eat the whole margin, the exchange closes the position for you. The price where that happens is the liquidation price.
The higher the leverage, the smaller your margin compared to the position, and the closer the liquidation price is to your entry.
The formula
For an isolated position, ignoring fees:
The maintenance margin is the small part of the position the exchange wants you to keep at all times. Because of it, you are liquidated a little before your margin reaches exactly zero.
Worked example
You open a 10x long on Bitcoin at $60,000 with $1,000 margin. The maintenance margin is 0.5%.
- Position size: $1,000 × 10 = $10,000
- Liquidation: $60,000 × (1 − 0.10 + 0.005) = $54,300
- That is a 9.5% drop from your entry
- If it happens, you lose your $1,000 margin
The same trade as a short would be liquidated at $60,000 × (1 + 0.10 − 0.005) = $65,700, a 9.5% rise.
Quick reference
| Leverage | Long liquidated after a drop of about | Short liquidated after a rise of about |
|---|---|---|
| 2x | 49.5% | 49.5% |
| 5x | 19.5% | 19.5% |
| 10x | 9.5% | 9.5% |
| 20x | 4.5% | 4.5% |
| 50x | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| 100x | 0.5% | 0.5% |
With 0.5% maintenance margin. Bitcoin regularly moves 2–5% in a single day, which is why very high leverage gets liquidated so often.
How to avoid getting liquidated
- Always use a stop loss closer than the liquidation price. Then the stop closes the trade with a planned, smaller loss before the exchange takes your whole margin. The position size calculator checks this for you.
- Lower the leverage. Going from 20x to 5x moves the liquidation from about 4.5% away to about 19.5% away.
- Use isolated margin for single trades. With cross margin, your whole futures balance backs the position, so a bad trade can drain more than you planned.
- Watch funding and fees. On perpetual futures, fees and funding payments slowly reduce your margin, which pulls the liquidation price closer over time.
Why your exchange shows a slightly different number
This calculator uses the standard isolated-margin formula. Exchanges such as Binance, Bybit and OKX add their own details: maintenance margin that grows with position size, the fee to close the position, and funding payments. That is why the number on the exchange can differ a little. Treat the result here as a close estimate, and always check the liquidation price your exchange shows before you open the trade.
Frequently asked questions
How is liquidation price calculated?
For an isolated long it is roughly entry × (1 − 1 ÷ leverage + maintenance margin). For a short it is entry × (1 + 1 ÷ leverage − maintenance margin).
Where is the liquidation price at 10x leverage?
About 9.5% away from your entry with a 0.5% maintenance margin: below the entry for a long, above it for a short.
Does the margin amount change the liquidation price?
Not for an isolated position. Liquidation depends on entry, leverage and maintenance margin. The margin amount only decides how big the position is and how much money you lose if it is liquidated.
Can a 1x long get liquidated?
No. At 1x you pay for the whole position, so the price would have to go to zero. A 1x short can still be liquidated, at roughly double the entry price.
What is the difference between isolated and cross margin?
With isolated margin, only the margin you put into that one trade can be lost. With cross margin, the exchange uses your whole futures balance to keep positions open, which moves the liquidation further away but puts more money at risk.
Related calculators
This calculator gives an estimate for isolated margin. Your exchange may use different maintenance margin tiers, fees and funding, so its liquidation price can differ. Nothing on this site is financial advice.