Margin and Leverage
One balance backs every position you hold.
Cross-margin
Your account has one collateral balance, in USDλ, and every position you hold is margined against it. A profit in one market is collateral for another; a loss in one draws on the same pool. There are no per-position margin accounts to top up.
Initial and maintenance margin
Each market has two thresholds, set in its configuration:
- Initial margin is what you need to open a position. 5% initial margin corresponds to 20× leverage — the maximum on the majors. Smaller or more volatile markets require more.
- Maintenance margin is what you must keep to hold the position open. It is lower than initial margin (for example 1.2% on the majors), which gives a position room to move against you before it is closed.
The ticket shows the margin an order will use before you place it.
Equity
Equity is your collateral plus the unrealised P&L of every open position, valued at the mark price. When equity falls below the maintenance requirement of your positions, the account is liquidated — see Liquidation.
Leverage in practice
Leverage is not a setting you choose; it is the ratio between your position size and the margin backing it. Opening a $20,000 position with $1,000 of free collateral is 20× leverage. Adding collateral or reducing the position lowers it.
Leverage magnifies losses as much as gains. At 20×, a move of roughly 3.8% against you takes the position from initial margin to maintenance margin and it will be liquidated.