Liquidation Price Calculator
Liquidation price calculator
Liquidation price
Move to liquidation
Margin posted
Lost at liquidation
This is the isolated-margin case: liquidation is where your posted margin no longer covers the maintenance requirement. The number worth staring at is "move to liquidation" — at 10× a roughly 9.5% move against you ends the position, and at 50× it is under 2%. Crypto moves that far routinely and in minutes. Maintenance margin, fee schedules and the exact liquidation engine differ by venue and by position size; funding payments on a perpetual erode margin over time and are not modelled here, nor is partial liquidation or auto-deleveraging. Treat the output as an optimistic approximation of your own venue. Runs entirely in your browser. Not advice.
What this calculator does
From an entry price, a leverage multiple, a maintenance-margin rate and a direction, it returns the price at which an isolated-margin position is force-closed, how far that is from your entry, the margin you posted and how much of it is gone at that point.
The number to stare at
It is not the liquidation price. It is the move required to reach it:
- 2× — about a 50% move against you
- 5× — about 19.6%
- 10× — about 9.6%
- 25× — about 3.5%
- 50× — about 1.5%
- 100× — about 0.5%
Bitcoin has moved more than 1.5% in an hour on ordinary days, and far more than that during a liquidation cascade. At 50× the position is not a trade with a wide margin for error; it is a bet that the next few minutes are calm. The arithmetic is the same regardless of how good the underlying idea was.
How the price is derived
Liquidation is the point where the margin you posted no longer covers the maintenance requirement. For a long that is where entry ÷ leverage + (price − entry) = maintenance × price, which rearranges to entry × (1 − 1/leverage) ÷ (1 − maintenance); the short case mirrors it. At that price your remaining equity equals the maintenance requirement exactly, which is why the “lost at liquidation” figure is very nearly all of your margin rather than all of it.
Why your venue’s number will differ
Maintenance-margin rates are tiered by position size and differ by exchange. Real liquidation engines also apply fees, may liquidate partially, and on some venues use a mark or index price rather than the last trade. Funding payments on a perpetual quietly erode margin over time and are not modelled here at all, which means a position held for weeks liquidates earlier than this calculator suggests. Treat the output as an optimistic approximation and read your venue’s own documentation.
Frequently asked questions
What maintenance margin should I enter? The rate your exchange publishes for your position size and tier. The 0.5% default is a common figure for large-cap perpetuals at modest size, not a universal one.
Does adding margin move the liquidation price? Yes — that is effectively reducing leverage, so lower the leverage figure to see the new level.
Is cross margin the same? No. Under cross margin your whole balance backs the position, so liquidation comes later but risks far more. This models the isolated case.
Is this advice? No, and nothing here recommends using leverage. See our disclaimer.