Isolated vs Cross Margin

Isolated Margin

Each position has its own dedicated margin. If liquidated, only that position's margin is lost — your other positions and wallet balance are unaffected.

Best for:

• High-risk or experimental trades

• Testing new assets

• Limiting downside on individual positions

Cross Margin

Your entire account balance acts as shared collateral across all cross-margin positions. Unrealized profits from one position can help prevent liquidation on another.

Best for:

• Experienced traders running multiple positions

• Hedging strategies (e.g. long BTC, short ETH)

Risk: A single bad trade can deplete your entire account balance.

How to Set Margin Mode

Margin mode is selected when opening a new position. Choose Isolated or Cross on the trade confirmation screen before executing.

⚠️ You cannot change the margin mode on an existing open position. To switch modes, you must close the position and reopen it with the desired margin mode.

Default Setting

You can set your default margin mode in /settings so every new position starts with your preferred mode. You can still override it on a per-trade basis.

💡 TIP: If you are new to perpetual trading, start with Isolated margin. It limits your risk to the margin allocated to each individual position.

Comparison Table

	Isolated	Cross
Risk per trade	Limited to position margin	Entire account balance
Liquidation scope	Single position only	Can affect all cross positions
Best for	High-risk trades, beginners	Multi-position strategies, hedging
Capital efficiency	Lower	Higher
Change on open position	Not possible	Not possible