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What is Isolated Margin?

A margin mode where only the funds specifically allocated to one position are at risk — losses are capped at your deposited margin for that trade.

Isolated margin confines your risk to the amount you explicitly assign to a single position. If that position is liquidated, only the allocated margin is lost — not your entire account.

How it works:

You open a BTC long and allocate $500 as isolated margin. If the trade goes against you and reaches liquidation:

  • Isolated margin: You lose $500 maximum. Other trades and your remaining balance are unaffected.
  • Cross margin: Your entire futures wallet could be drained.
  • When to use isolated margin:

  • When entering a trade you're not fully confident in
  • When you want precise, predefined maximum loss per trade
  • For new positions while learning a market
  • Trade-off: Isolated margin is less capital-efficient than cross margin. Your liquidation price is fixed at opening based on allocated margin only — you cannot benefit from account-wide profits unless you add margin manually.

    Most professional retail traders use isolated margin for most positions to maintain clear risk control per trade.

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