Your liquidation price is the price at which your futures position will be forcibly closed because your margin can no longer cover your losses. In short, you calculate it by dividing your entry price by the leverage used, then adjusting for the maintenance margin rate and your position size. The exact formula differs for long and short positions, and it shifts slightly depending on whether you are using isolated or cross margin mode.
The Core Formula for Isolated Margin
Before you can calculate anything, you need to separate the two main variables: leverage and maintenance margin. Leverage determines how much collateral you need to open the trade, while the maintenance margin is a smaller, fixed buffer that the exchange keeps to protect against negative balance. On platforms like Bitget, these are shown in the position details panel, but you can also compute them yourself.
For a Long Position
A long position gets liquidated when the price falls to a level where your initial margin plus unrealized loss equals the maintenance margin. The standard formula is:
Liquidation Price = Entry Price - (Initial Margin - Maintenance Margin) / Position Size
In practice, this simplifies to:
Entry Price × (1 - 1 / Leverage) + Maintenance Margin / Position Size. The maintenance margin part is usually very small, so for high leverage trades, the liquidation price sits very close to your entry price.
For a Short Position
For a short, the price must rise to trigger liquidation. The formula is the mirror image:
Liquidation Price = Entry Price + (Initial Margin - Maintenance Margin) / Position Size
Or equivalently:
Entry Price × (1 + 1 / Leverage) - Maintenance Margin / Position Size. Here, the maintenance margin is subtracted because it acts as a buffer against the rising price.
How Leverage Changes Your Distance to Liquidation
The most intuitive way to think about liquidation is in terms of "distance." If you use 10x leverage on a long, your liquidation is roughly 10% below your entry (minus the maintenance margin). At 20x, it is about 5% away. At 50x, it is about 2% away.
- Low leverage (2x-5x): Liquidation is far away, allowing for large price swings without risk.
- Medium leverage (10x-20x): A typical 5-10% adverse move will wipe out the position.
- High leverage (50x+): Even a 1-2% flicker in price can trigger liquidation.
Remember that this distance is calculated from your entry price, not the current market price. If you are already in profit, your liquidation price will not move in isolated margin mode; it stays fixed at the level set when you opened the trade.
Cross Margin vs. Isolated Margin
The above formulas assume isolated margin, where only the margin allocated to that specific position is at risk. In cross margin mode, your entire wallet balance is used as collateral, which changes the calculation significantly.
Cross Margin Calculation
In cross margin, the liquidation price depends on your total wallet equity, not just the margin for this trade. The formula becomes:
Liquidation Price = Entry Price × (1 - (Wallet Balance - Maintenance Margin) / (Position Size × Entry Price))
Because your wallet balance might include profits from other positions, your liquidation price can move in your favor (further away) when you have extra funds, or against you if you withdraw funds. Bitget and other exchanges display this dynamically, but the key takeaway is: cross margin gives you a larger buffer at the cost of risking your entire account.
Practical Steps to Find Your Exact Number
Instead of doing the math manually every time, you can use the built-in tools that most exchanges provide. On Bitget, after opening a position, you can hover over the "Liquidation Price" field in the position tab. The platform shows both the isolated and cross margin values in real time.
Manual Calculation Example
Let's assume you open a long position at $20,000 with 10x leverage. Your position size is $200,000 notional. The initial margin is $20,000. If the maintenance margin rate is 0.5%, your maintenance margin is $1,000.
Liquidation Price = 20,000 - (20,000 - 1,000) / 10
That equals 20,000 - 1,900 =
$18,100. This is slightly further away than the pure 10% rule (which would be $18,000) because the maintenance margin adds a small cushion.
Why Your Liquidation Price Keeps Moving
If you notice your liquidation price changing even though you haven't added or removed margin, it is likely due to funding fees. In perpetual futures, funding payments are exchanged between longs and shorts every few hours. If you are on the paying side, your margin decreases slightly, pulling your liquidation price closer. If you are receiving funding, your margin grows, pushing the liquidation price further away. This is why checking your position panel periodically is more reliable than memorizing a static formula.
Final Warning on Partial Liquidation
Some exchanges, including Bitget, use a partial liquidation system. Instead of closing your entire position at once, they reduce your position size just enough to bring your margin ratio back above the maintenance level. This means your liquidation price can "reset" to a new level after a partial close. Always treat the displayed liquidation price as a dynamic number, not a fixed target.