Watch the cushion, not just the entry
Once you're in a trade, the number that matters is how much room is left to liquidation. When it gets thin, add margin or cut size. Widen it with the add margin calculator.
The gap between your stop and liquidation is your real safety margin
Your stop-loss and your liquidation price are two different numbers and both can trigger. If you set a stop at −5% and liquidation is at −8%, a 7% candle wicks down and liquidates you even if you had a stop order in. Market orders don't execute during flash crashes and extreme volatility — they get skipped.
The buffer = (stop_distance − liquidation_distance). A good rule: stop should be at most 60–70% of the distance to liquidation. At 10x leverage, liquidation is ~9.5% away (for longs). Stop at 6% away gives you a 3.5% cushion. Stop at 9% is only 0.5% from liquidation — any spike through it and the exchange force-closes your position.
Adding margin to an open position moves the liquidation price away from you without changing your entry or stop. This is sometimes used to survive short-term volatility — but it also increases total risk if the trade continues losing.
Related: liquidation price, stop vs liquidation gap, stop-loss / take-profit.