Liquidation calculator
The liquidation price of a leveraged position: the inputs, the formula and why margin does not move it.
When you trade with leverage, the exchange force-closes your position once the loss eats nearly all the margin you put in. That is liquidation. The liquidation calculator shows the price where it happens and how far the price still has to go.
- PositionLong if you profit when the price rises, short if you profit when it falls. A long is liquidated below the entry price, a short above it.
- Entry price, $The price the position was opened at.
- LeverageA slider from 1× to 125×. 10× means the position is ten times your margin.
- Margin, $How much of your own money is in the position. Used for the position size.
- Maintenance margin, %The minimum share the exchange requires you to keep. Usually 0.4–1% for large coins; check your exchange's rules for your position size.
- Liquidation priceThe price at which the exchange closes the position, with the move from the entry price next to it.
- Price move to liquidationHow many percent the price has to move against you.
- Position sizeMargin × leverage, in dollars and in coins at the entry price.
How it is calculated
This is for isolated margin. The position is liquidated when the loss reaches the margin minus the maintenance level:
k = 1 ÷ leverage − maintenance margin ÷ 100 long: liquidation price = entry × (1 − k) short: liquidation price = entry × (1 + k) move to liquidation = |liquidation price − entry| ÷ entry × 100% position size = margin × leverage
Example from the screenshot: a long at $70,000, 10× leverage, 0.5% maintenance. k = 0.1 − 0.005 = 0.095, liquidation price = 70,000 × 0.905 = $63,350: a 9.5% drop is enough.
The margin amount only changes the position size, not the liquidation price: that depends on leverage and maintenance margin. If the leverage is too high for the maintenance margin (k ≤ 0, e.g. 125× at 1%), the calculator shows a dash: such a position would be liquidated at once.
The estimate leaves out fees, funding and cross margin, so the real liquidation price on an exchange is usually a little closer to the entry.