Leverage and margin

Leverage lets you open a position larger than the collateral you put up. This guide explains the margin behind every position, the difference between cross and isolated margin, and why each step up in leverage puts your liquidation price closer to your entry.

Position value, margin and leverage

Three numbers describe every leveraged position:

• Position value (also called notional): size × price. Ten coins at $1,000 each is a $10,000 position.
• Margin: the USDC collateral backing the position.
• Leverage: position value ÷ margin.

So $1,000 of margin at 10x backs a $10,000 position. A 1% price move changes the position’s value by $100, which is 10% of your margin. A 10% move against you would use up the full $1,000. In practice the position is liquidated before that point, because the exchange requires you to keep a minimum amount of margin at all times: another reason to size positions so a normal move is comfortable.

In NyxGo, size and leverage are separate choices. You enter the size you want in the order form, and the Margin required line shows the order value divided by your leverage.

Initial margin and maintenance margin

The exchange NyxGo uses sets two margin levels:

• Initial margin is what you need to open a position: position size × mark price ÷ leverage.
• Maintenance margin is the minimum your position’s equity must stay above to remain open. It is set at half of the initial margin at the market’s maximum leverage.

The maximum leverage differs by market, so maintenance margin does too:

Market’s max leverage	Initial margin at max	Maintenance margin
50x	2%	1%
40x	2.5%	1.25%
20x	5%	2.5%
10x	10%	5%
5x	20%	10%

Your equity is your margin plus or minus unrealized profit and loss, after any funding and fees you have paid. When equity falls below maintenance margin, the position is liquidated. The exchange also uses margin tiers, where the maximum leverage and maintenance requirement depend on how large the position is. NyxGo shows each market’s maximum leverage next to its name in the market picker and on the Markets page.

Cross margin vs isolated margin

There are two ways to assign collateral to a position:

	Cross margin	Isolated margin
Collateral	Shared across all your cross positions	Only the margin assigned to that position
Unrealized profit on one position	Can support your other cross positions	Stays with that position
If it is liquidated	Your cross account’s collateral is at stake	Only that position’s margin is at stake, and other positions are not affected

Cross margin is the default and uses capital more efficiently: a winning position can hold up a losing one. The trade-off is that a large loss on one position draws on the collateral behind all of them. Isolated margin limits a position’s risk to the margin you assigned, though that position gets no help from the rest of your account. Some markets are isolated-only.

In NyxGo, the top of the order form shows the market’s current margin mode (Cross or Isolated) next to your leverage, and the Positions tab labels each position with its leverage and mode, for example “10x Cross”. The margin mode is a per-market setting on your account: click it in the order form to switch, and use the Margin column of an isolated position to add or remove margin.

How leverage changes your liquidation distance

Liquidation happens when equity drops to the maintenance margin. Higher leverage means less initial margin, so there is a smaller cushion between where you start and where you are liquidated.

Take a market with a 40x maximum, where maintenance margin is 1.25%. You open an isolated long of 100 coins at $100, which is a $10,000 position. At 10x you post $1,000. If the price falls to about $91.14, you have lost about $886 and equity is about $114. That is 1.25% of the position’s new value of about $9,114, so the position is liquidated.

Here is the same position at different leverage, ignoring fees and funding:

Leverage	Margin on a $10,000 position	Approximate price drop to liquidation
2x	$5,000	49.4%
5x	$2,000	19.0%
10x	$1,000	8.9%
20x	$500	3.8%
40x	$250	1.3%

Doubling leverage from 10x to 20x more than halves the distance, because the maintenance margin doesn’t shrink as your margin does. On cross margin the picture depends on your whole account: spare collateral pushes the liquidation price further away, and losses on other cross positions pull it closer. NyxGo shows each position’s current estimate in the Liq. price column of the Positions tab.

Key idea: For a given position size, leverage doesn’t change how many dollars you gain or lose when the price moves. It changes how much margin backs the position, and therefore how small a move it takes to wipe that margin out.

Setting leverage in NyxGo

On any trade screen, such as BTC, select the leverage button at the top of the order form (for example 20x). A dialog opens with a slider from 1x to the market’s maximum, plus preset buttons. Choose a value and select Confirm. The change is signed by your NyxGo trading key, so the button is only active after you have enabled trading.

Leverage is stored per market on your account, so it applies to your next orders in that market. You can increase the leverage of an existing position without closing it.

Leverage also changes how large an order you can place. The percentage slider under the size field sets your size as a share of the largest order your account can open at the current leverage. Before you submit, check Order value and Margin required at the bottom of the form.

Perpetual futures are high risk, and a higher maximum on the slider isn’t a recommendation. Nothing here is financial advice.

Key takeaways

• Leverage is position value divided by margin. It sets how much collateral you post, not how much you gain or lose per price move.
• Initial margin opens a position. Maintenance margin, half the initial margin at the market’s maximum leverage, keeps it open.
• Cross margin shares collateral across positions, while isolated margin limits a position to its own margin.
• Higher leverage shrinks the gap between your entry and your liquidation price faster than you might expect.
• In NyxGo, set leverage from the order form and check the Liq. price column in the Positions tab.