Leverage is a capital choice, not a profit choice
The most common misread of leverage is that a bigger multiplier makes a trade more profitable. It doesn't. If you buy the same $1,000 of a coin, you make the same dollars whether you backed it with $500 of margin at 2x or $10 of margin at 100x — the entry, the target and the number of coins are identical. What leverage actually decides is how much of your own money you tie up to hold that position, and, as the direct consequence, how far the price can move against you before the exchange liquidates the whole margin at a loss.
That trade-off is what this table makes concrete. Read across a row and you see the same position expressed as a margin requirement and a distance to liquidation. Low leverage posts a lot of margin but can sit through a deep drawdown; high leverage frees almost all your capital but liquidates on a wick. The ROE column shows the flip side: because higher leverage posts less margin, the same dollar gain reads as a bigger percentage return — which is the seduction and the trap in one number. The right leverage is the highest one whose "move to liquidation" still sits clearly outside the coin's normal range, and not a notch higher. Cross-check that range with the volatility calculator before you commit.
How to use it
1. Choose long or short and enter your entry price.
2. Enter the position size in dollars — the notional you want on, not your margin.
3. Optionally enter a target price to see the ROE each leverage would deliver.
4. Read down the "move to liquidation" column and pick the leverage that still leaves comfortable room past the worst move you'd expect.
Common mistakes
Chasing the ROE column. A 500% ROE at 50x is the same dollars as 50% at 5x — you just risked liquidation on a 2% move to get it. Confusing margin with risk. Posting less margin doesn't mean risking less; it means liquidating sooner. Ignoring maintenance margin. The exchange closes you slightly before your margin hits zero, so your real liquidation is a touch closer than 1÷leverage — this table folds that in. Picking leverage before position size. Decide how big a position you want and how much you'll risk, then read off the leverage that fits — never the other way around.
FAQ
Why is the dollar profit the same across leverages? Because profit comes from the position size and the price move, both of which are fixed here. Leverage only changes the margin behind that position, so it changes the percentage return, never the dollar result.
Is the liquidation price exact? It's a close estimate using your maintenance-margin rate on an isolated position. Exchanges add small funding and fee effects and tiered maintenance rates on large positions, so treat it as a tight guide, not a guarantee to the cent — confirm on the liquidation calculator.
What leverage do most survivors use? Far less than the maximum. If you want a position to ride a normal pullback without dying, its liquidation usually needs to be tens of percent away — which is single-digit to low-teens leverage for most coins. Use the safe leverage calculator to size it from a stop instead.