[Interactive widget: Entry price · Leverage · Long/Short · Maintenance margin rate → Liquidation price and distance from entry]
The formula
For an isolated long position:
Liquidation price ≈ entry price × (1 − 1/leverage + maintenance margin rate)
For an isolated short:
Liquidation price ≈ entry price × (1 + 1/leverage − maintenance margin rate)
A 10x long entered at $100 with a 0.5% maintenance margin liquidates near $90.50. A 20x long at the same entry liquidates near $95.50. The gap between entry and liquidation shrinks fast as leverage rises.
What the formula leaves out
Cross margin. If other positions share the collateral, the liquidation price depends on all of them and moves as they do.
Fees and funding. Both drain margin over time, moving the liquidation price toward entry while you hold.
Tiered maintenance margin. Larger positions face higher maintenance rates on most venues, so the same leverage liquidates closer to entry at size.
The price that actually triggers it
Not necessarily the last trade on the venue. Most exchanges measure against a mark price derived from an index or oracle, so a wick on one venue’s book may not liquidate you while a move in the broader market will. Check how your venue defines mark price before trusting any calculator’s output.
What to do with the number
Treat it as the point where the trade is over, not the point where you’ll exit. A stop placed well inside the liquidation price exits on your terms; a liquidation exits on the venue’s, with a penalty.