Academy · 15 November 2026 · 11 min · By Nerea Ibarguren

Liquidation Price in Crypto: Formula and 2x-100x Table

Liquidation price in crypto explained: the formula, 2x-100x tables for longs and shorts, a real bitcoin example and how to avoid getting liquidated.

Real case: bitcoin at $62,112 and $2 billion liquidated (14-15 November 2026)

Bitcoin fell to $62,112 during Asian trading on Sunday 15 November 2026, its lowest level since 14 July, according to Investing.com. According to crypto.news, the seven-day decline is around 15%, after the price lost $70,000 on Friday 13th, with outflows of about $1.91 billion from US spot bitcoin ETFs over seven straight sessions to 13 November. On top of that, rate markets are now fully pricing in a Fed rate hike in December, according to TokenPost.

What turned a sharp fall into a rout was liquidations. TokenPost puts the leveraged crypto positions forcibly closed in 24 hours at more than $2 billion, with more than 320,000 traders liquidated; using CoinGlass data, crypto.news gives $1.96 billion. In bitcoin alone, the figure was about $750 million according to crypto.news (with CoinGlass data showing around 80% in long positions) and $774 million according to Investing.com. The exact low varies by venue: crypto.news puts it at around $62,080. You can find the full background in why is bitcoin down today. Here we focus on the lesson, which applies to any future sell-off: what the liquidation price is, how to calculate it and how to avoid being liquidated.

What is the liquidation price in trading?

The liquidation price is the asset price at which your leveraged position is closed automatically because losses have eaten into your margin down to the required minimum (the maintenance margin). It is not your decision: the exchange or broker executes it so that it is not left holding a debt. The higher the leverage, the closer that level sits to your entry price.

To understand it, you need to separate three concepts:

• Initial margin: the money you put up to open the position. At 10x, you put up $1,000 and control $10,000.
• Maintenance margin: the minimum that must remain in the position for it to stay open. In crypto perpetual futures it is usually a small percentage of position size; each platform publishes its tiered table, and the percentage rises for large positions.
• Mark price: the reference price exchanges use to trigger liquidations, usually calculated from prices on several spot markets. It stops a one-off wick on a single platform (a huge order in a thin order book) from liquidating everyone when the real market has not moved.

How to calculate the liquidation price: the formula

For a linear contract (margin and profit in USDT or USD) on isolated margin, the most widely used approximation, excluding fees and funding, is:

• Long position: liquidation price ≈ entry price × (1 − 1/leverage + maintenance margin)
• Short position: liquidation price ≈ entry price × (1 + 1/leverage − maintenance margin)

The logic is simple: with leverage L, a move of 1/L against you wipes out 100% of your margin, and the maintenance margin triggers the close-out slightly before that point. If the maintenance margin is calculated on the value of the position at the moment of closure, as many exchanges do, the more exact version for a long is entry price × (1 − 1/L) / (1 − maintenance margin). At 10x, with an entry at $70,000 and 0.5%, the approximation gives $63,350 and the exact version $63,317: a negligible difference. What does move the level is the liquidation fee, along with opening fees and the funding rate, which bring it even closer to your entry. The figure that counts is the one your platform shows you before you confirm the order. If you want to run your own numbers, use our leverage calculator.

Assumptions in all examples: isolated margin, linear contract, 0.5% maintenance margin, and no fees or funding.

Table: liquidation price of a bitcoin long bought at $70,000

From $70,000 to $62,112 is a fall of 11.3%. Any long opened at that level with 10x or more was wiped out; a 5x long survived, albeit with an unrealised loss of more than half the margin. Note the asymmetry: going from 10x to 20x cuts your margin for error by more than half (from 9.5% to 4.5%), and a 4.5% move in a single day is nothing unusual for bitcoin.

Table: liquidation price of a bitcoin short sold at $62,500

The risk cuts both ways. A few hours after the low, Investing.com had bitcoin at $64,843.6: anyone who had opened a short at $62,500 with 50x or 100x to "ride the fall" would have been liquidated on the bounce, even if they were right about the week's trend.

Inverse contracts: when your margin is in bitcoin

In inverse contracts, margin and profit are denominated in the cryptocurrency itself, not in dollars. That creates a double effect: on a long, if bitcoin falls, you lose on the position and your BTC collateral is also worth less. Ignoring the maintenance margin, an inverse long is liquidated at entry × L/(L+1): at 10x from $70,000, at about $63,636 (−9.1%), slightly earlier than the linear contract ($63,000 in the same calculation without maintenance margin). An inverse short works the other way: at 10x it is liquidated at entry × L/(L−1), about $77,778 (+11.1%), and at 1x it is practically never liquidated, because the dollar loss is offset by the value of the collateral.

Calculating bitcoin's liquidation price: a step-by-step example

You have $1,000 of margin and open a 10x bitcoin long at $70,000:

1. Position size: $1,000 × 10 = $10,000, i.e. 10,000 / 70,000 = 0.142857 BTC.
2. Maintenance margin: 0.5% of $10,000 = $50.
3. Maximum loss before close-out: 1,000 − 50 = $950.
4. Price fall that produces that loss: 950 / 0.142857 = $6,650. Liquidation price: 70,000 − 6,650 = $63,350, the same as the formula gives.

Result: a 9.5% fall costs you 95% of your margin, and in practice almost all of it, because on many exchanges whatever is left after liquidation goes towards the liquidation fee or the platform's insurance fund (each one sets this out in its terms).

The same trade with a stop-loss and controlled position size

Now you have a $10,000 account and decide to risk no more than 1% ($100) on the trade, with a stop-loss at $66,500, 5% below the entry:

• Distance to the stop: 70,000 − 66,500 = $3,500 per bitcoin.
• Size: 100 / 3,500 = 0.02857 BTC, about $2,000 of exposure.
• Effective leverage on the account: 2,000 / 10,000 = 0.2x.

When the price slumps to $62,112, this position is closed at the stop for a loss of about $100 (a little more with slippage), and you still have around $9,900 to keep trading. The underlying lesson: risk is not set by the leverage your platform offers, but by your position size and where you place your stop. You can run these numbers with our position size calculator and weigh risk against reward with the risk-reward calculator.

Why liquidations cause cascading sell-offs

Liquidating a long is, in practice, a forced market sell order. When thousands of positions have their liquidation price in a similar band, the first wave of closures pushes the price down, which triggers the next wave, and so on. That is what happened this weekend, with thinner liquidity because it was a Saturday and Sunday.

That is why analysts watch liquidation maps. Glassnode flagged a concentration of potential liquidations between $59,500 and $62,600, according to Investing.com, and the $62,112 low fell right inside that band: a textbook example of how liquidation maps show where a move can accelerate. That is why $60,000 is now in focus. It is not a prediction that the price will fall further: it is a zone where, if the price gets there, the move can speed up.

Isolated vs cross margin: which to choose

Cross margin gives a false sense of security: liquidation sits further away because you are putting your whole balance on the line. With cross margin and a single position, the approximate calculation for a long is: liquidation price ≈ entry − (total balance − maintenance margin) / quantity. Example: with a $10,000 balance and a long of 0.142857 BTC at $70,000 ($10,000 position, 1x effective), it comes out at 70,000 − (10,000 − 50) / 0.142857 ≈ $350: almost impossible to reach, but only because the whole account is backing the trade. If you are not sure which mode you have switched on, check before you open your next trade. With either one, trading with leverage can make you lose all the money you have deposited.

What if you trade CFDs or perpetuals in Europe?

If you trade with an EU-regulated broker as a retail client, the rules differ from those of a crypto exchange. ESMA's product intervention measures, now applied by national supervisors (in Spain, the CNMV), cap leverage on cryptocurrency CFDs at 2:1, require positions to be closed when account margin falls to 50% of the required initial margin, and ban negative balances. At 2:1, losing all your margin would take a fall of close to 50%, but the mandatory close-out comes earlier, at around a 25% fall.

In addition, in its statement of 24 February 2026 (ESMA35-243228190-8024), ESMA warned that derivatives marketed as "perpetual futures" are likely to fall within the definition of CFDs when they meet its characteristics, regardless of their commercial name, as reported by Finance Magnates. In practice, that means an EU-authorised firm offering crypto perpetuals to retail clients must apply the same CFD protections: a leverage cap (2:1 for crypto), margin close-out and negative balance protection. Before you trade, read our risk warning: most retail accounts lose money trading CFDs.

Common leverage mistakes

• Choosing leverage based on the profit you dream of rather than the maximum loss you can tolerate.
• Not checking the liquidation price before confirming the order, even though almost every platform shows it.
• Adding margin to a losing position to push the liquidation level away: it means raising your stake on the trade that is already going wrong.
• Ignoring funding: on perpetuals, funding is received or paid every few hours and erodes your margin if you hold the position for days.
• Trading at weekends with the same size as during the week, when liquidity is thinner and wicks are longer.
• Confusing a stop-loss with liquidation: you decide the stop and it caps your loss; the platform decides the liquidation and it usually takes all your margin.

Checklist before opening a leveraged position

1. How much do I lose, in euros or dollars, if the stop is hit? Is it no more than 1-2% of the account?
2. Where is the liquidation price, and is it clearly further away than the stop?
3. Am I using isolated or cross margin? A linear or inverse contract?
4. How much will daily funding cost me if I hold the position?
5. Is there an event coming up (inflation data, a Fed meeting, the weekend) that could cause a gap? Check the economic calendar.
6. Could I withstand the asset's normal volatility without being forced out of the market?

Frequently asked questions

What happens to my money when I get liquidated?

You lose the margin allocated to the position. On isolated margin, the loss is limited to that margin; on cross margin, the platform can use the rest of your balance before closing. On many exchanges, whatever is left after the close-out goes to their insurance fund.

What is the mark price and why does it differ from the last price?

The mark price is a reference calculated by the exchange, usually from prices on several spot markets, and it is what triggers liquidations. That is why it can differ by a few dollars from the last traded price on your platform: it stops a one-off wick on a single market from liquidating positions.

How do you calculate the liquidation price at 10x?

For a linear long, multiply the entry price by (1 − 0.10 + maintenance margin). With an entry at $70,000 and 0.5% maintenance margin, you get $63,350: a 9.5% fall. For a short, the level sits 9.5% above the entry.

Does a stop-loss prevent liquidation?

Yes, if you place it before the liquidation price and the market does not gap past it. In very sharp moves it can be filled at a worse price than expected (slippage), but you will almost always lose far less than with a liquidation.

Why were mostly long positions liquidated?

Because the price fell: liquidations hit those betting against the direction of the move. According to CoinGlass data reported by crypto.news, around 80% of bitcoin liquidations in the 24 hours of the November 2026 sell-off were longs.

What is a safe leverage level for bitcoin?

There is no safe number. What reduces risk is sizing your position so that you lose a small share of the account if the stop is hit. Because bitcoin can move several percentage points in a single day, the higher the leverage, the easier it is for a normal move to liquidate you.