Margin & Leverage
How cross margin, leverage, initial and maintenance margin, and the margin ratio work for perpetual trading on Yellow.pro.
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How cross margin, leverage, initial and maintenance margin, and the margin ratio work for perpetual trading on Yellow.pro.
Yellow.pro uses cross margin for perpetual trading, combined with adjustable leverage. Understanding how they interact is key to managing risk.
In cross margin mode your entire available Perpetual account balance acts as collateral for all open positions — they share one margin pool. This is the margin mode used on Yellow.pro.
A profitable position can provide buffer for a losing one.
A single heavily losing position can draw from your whole balance.
Liquidation triggers when your total account margin ratio hits the maintenance threshold — not per individual position.
Example: a long BTC position up +200 USDT and a short BTC position down −150 USDT net to +50 USDT. Cross margin considers the whole account, so the losing leg isn't liquidated on its own.
Collateral
Full perpetual account balance
Fixed amount per position
Liquidation scope
All positions share risk
Each position risks only its margin
Max loss per position
Up to full account balance
Only the isolated margin
Yellow.pro currently uses cross margin as the primary mode. Isolated margin may be introduced in future updates.
Leverage is a multiplier that lets you open a position larger than your account balance: Position Size = Margin × Leverage. With 100 USDT and 10x leverage you control a 1,000 USDT position.
Leverage amplifies both gains and losses against the full position size:
1x
100 USDT
100 USDT
+5 USDT
−5 USDT
10x
100 USDT
1,000 USDT
+50 USDT
−50 USDT
20x
100 USDT
2,000 USDT
+100 USDT
−100 USDT
Higher leverage moves your liquidation price closer to entry and leaves less buffer for fluctuations. Beginners should start low (1x–5x).
Initial Margin — the minimum required to open a position: Initial Margin = Position Size / Leverage.
Maintenance Margin — the minimum required to keep a position open. If your effective margin falls below it, liquidation is triggered. It's a fixed percentage of position size, lower than the initial margin.
The Margin Ratio is a real-time indicator of how close you are to liquidation:
Low (e.g. <50%)
Well-funded, low risk
High (e.g. >80%)
Risk increasing — consider reducing positions
100%
Liquidation triggered
The main levers are adding margin, reducing position size, lowering leverage, and using stop-loss orders. You'll also receive an email warning as your margin ratio approaches critical levels. For the full approach and how to enable alerts, see Margin Warnings & Risk Management; for how liquidation is triggered and priced, see Liquidation & Mark Price.
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