Liquidation Price Calculator

Where a leveraged position gets force-closed, and how far that is from your entry. The number worth knowing before you size up, not after.

By Joey van Diest, founder and editorUpdated July 26, 2026

Side

Margin mode

Entry price

Leverage x

Maint. margin %

Position size (units)

Liquidation price: …
Distance: …
Initial margin: …
Notional: …

The formula

long: P_liq = P_entry × (1 − 1/L − c) ÷ (1 − m)
short: P_liq = P_entry × (1 + 1/L + c) ÷ (1 + m)
L = leverage, m = maintenance margin rate, c = extra cushion ÷ notional

Liquidation happens when your remaining margin no longer covers the maintenance requirement. For a long, margin posted is entry ÷ L per unit, losses grow as price falls, and the exchange steps in once what is left equals the maintenance margin on the position's current value. Solving that equality gives the formula above. In isolated mode the cushion c is zero; in cross mode your spare wallet balance is added, which pushes liquidation further away.

A worked example

Long 1 BTC at $65,000 on 10x isolated with a 0.5% maintenance rate. You post $6,500 of margin. Liquidation sits at 65,000 × (1 − 0.10) ÷ (1 − 0.005) = $58,793, about 9.5% below entry. Note that it is not a clean 10%: the maintenance requirement eats into the buffer, so you are liquidated slightly before losing your full margin.

Now raise leverage to 25x. Margin drops to $2,600, but liquidation climbs to roughly $62,713, just 3.5% below entry. Bitcoin moves 3.5% in an ordinary session. That is the real trade-off leverage presents: it does not change your risk per trade if your position size is unchanged, it changes how much room the position has before the exchange takes the decision away from you.

Keep your stop inside your liquidation

The practical rule this calculator supports: your stop loss should always trigger comfortably before liquidation. If your planned stop is further from entry than the liquidation price, the stop is decorative, the exchange will close you first, at a worse price and with a fee. Size the trade with the position size calculator, check the margin tied up with the margin calculator, and if you trade perpetuals, watch what funding is costing you to hold via the funding dashboard, since accrued funding erodes margin and drags liquidation closer over time.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my exchange show a slightly different liquidation price?: Three usual reasons. First, maintenance margin is tiered: it rises with position size, so a large position has a higher rate than the default here, and liquidates sooner. Second, exchanges deduct estimated closing fees and accrued funding from your margin, which pulls the level closer. Third, some venues liquidate against a mark price (an index) rather than the last traded price. Set the maintenance rate to match your tier and this will land very close, but treat the exchange figure as authoritative.
What is the difference between isolated and cross margin here?: Isolated margin risks only the margin allocated to that position, so the liquidation price depends purely on entry, leverage and the maintenance rate. Cross margin lets the rest of your wallet balance absorb losses, which pushes the liquidation price further away. Enter your spare balance in the cross field and the calculator adds that cushion to the position.
Does higher leverage change my risk per trade?: Not by itself, and this is the most misunderstood point in leveraged trading. Your risk is set by position size and where your stop is, not by the leverage number. What leverage changes is how much margin is locked up and how close liquidation sits. The danger is that high leverage moves liquidation so close to entry that ordinary noise closes you out before your stop would have. A stop placed further away than your liquidation price is not a stop at all.
Should I rely on liquidation instead of a stop loss?: No. Liquidation is the exchange force-closing you at the worst possible point, usually with a fee, and on a bad wick it can happen at a price you would never have chosen. A stop loss is your decision at a level you chose. Use this calculator to confirm your liquidation sits far beyond your stop, so the stop is what actually ends the trade.

Method and limitations

Pure arithmetic on your inputs, computed in your browser; nothing is fetched and nothing you type leaves the page. The model uses a single flat maintenance margin rate. Real exchanges apply tiered rates that rise with position size, deduct estimated closing fees and accrued funding, and may liquidate against a mark or index price rather than last traded price, all of which move the real level closer than shown. Your exchange's own liquidation figure is authoritative. This is an information tool, not trading advice.

This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to us or stored.

For general information and education only. This is not financial advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Trading and investing carry risk, including the risk of losing more than your initial outlay. Always verify figures against your broker or the original source before acting on them.

Spotted an error? Email[email protected]and it will be corrected. Maintained byJoey van Diest.