Skip to main content
A position is liquidated when your collateral falls below the maintenance margin: the minimum needed to keep it open. That’s 1.25% of the position for a 40x market, up to 16.7% for a 3x market.

What triggers a liquidation

​
Your liquidation price

The order form shows an estimated Liquidation Price before you place a trade, and your open position shows its liquidation price. It can move after you open the position:
  • Funding payments change your margin. See Funding rates.
  • Cross margin: gains and losses on your other cross positions move it.
  • Isolated margin: adding or removing margin moves it.
For cross positions, the multiplier you picked doesn’t change the liquidation price; it only changes how much collateral the position uses. For isolated positions, a higher multiplier means less margin and a closer liquidation price. Liquidations use the mark price, not the last trade. The mark price blends prices from major exchanges with our own order book, so a single spike or thin book doesn’t liquidate you. In fast markets, it can differ from the price you see on the book.

​
What happens during a liquidation

1

Market liquidation

Your position is closed with market orders on the order book. If it closes before your margin runs out, you keep whatever collateral is left. Positions larger than $100,000 are closed 20% at a time.
2

Backstop liquidation

If your collateral falls below two-thirds of the maintenance margin before the order book can close the position, it’s taken over by a backstop liquidator. In a backstop liquidation, you lose the remaining maintenance margin.
What you can lose depends on the margin mode:
  • Cross: a backstop liquidation takes all your cross positions and cross margin. If you have no isolated positions, your trading balance goes to zero.
  • Isolated: only that position and its margin are affected. Your other positions and balance are untouched.

​
Avoid liquidation