What a liquidation price is
On leveraged perpetual futures, the exchange closes your position automatically when losses have eaten into the margin so far that only the maintenance margin is left. The price at which that happens is the liquidation price. Knowing it before you open the trade tells you how much room the market has to move against you — and whether your stop sits safely in front of it.
How to use the calculator
Choose long or short, enter the entry price and the leverage, and adjust the maintenance margin rate if your exchange uses a different figure (around 0.5% is common for the smallest tier of BTC and ETH contracts). Optionally enter the margin you will commit to see the position value, the quantity and the loss at liquidation. The result is an estimate for isolated margin: fees, funding payments and tiered maintenance rates are not included.
The formula
long liquidation ≈ entry × (1 − 1/leverage + maintenance rate)
short liquidation ≈ entry × (1 + 1/leverage − maintenance rate)
1/leverage is the initial margin as a fraction of the position. The position is liquidated once the adverse move has consumed the initial margin down to the maintenance margin.
Worked example
Long BTC at 100,000 with 10× leverage and a 0.5% maintenance rate: 100,000 × (1 − 0.10 + 0.005) = 90,500. A 9.5% drop liquidates the position. With $1,000 of margin, the position is worth $10,000 (0.1 BTC) and $950 of the margin is gone at that price.
The same trade as a short: 100,000 × (1 + 0.10 − 0.005) = 109,500.
At 20× on ETH from 3,500: 3,500 × (1 − 0.05 + 0.005) = 3,342.50, only 4.5% away. Doubling the leverage roughly halves the distance to liquidation.
Why the exchange's number differs
Exchanges calculate liquidation from the mark price rather than the last traded price, apply maintenance rates that rise with position size, set aside the estimated closing fee, and adjust the margin as funding is paid or received. Most also liquidate slightly before the theoretical level. Treat this estimate as a planning number and read the exact figure from the order screen.
Common mistakes
- Placing the stop beyond liquidation. A stop-loss must sit well before the liquidation price, or it will never trigger.
- Confusing cross and isolated margin. In cross mode the whole account balance backs the position, so liquidation is farther away — and the potential loss much larger.
- Treating leverage as risk. Your risk is the distance to your stop multiplied by the quantity; leverage only decides how much margin is posted and how close liquidation sits. Size the trade with the crypto position calculator.
- Ignoring funding. On long holds, funding payments slowly reduce isolated margin and pull the liquidation price closer.