Skip to main content
Leverage lets you control a position that is larger than the margin committed to opening it. That makes capital more efficient, but it also makes sizing mistakes more expensive.

​
Position value vs margin

Suppose you open a $1,000 position at 5x leverage. A simplified initial-margin calculation is: 1,000÷5=1,000 ÷ 5 = 200 So you may need roughly 200ofinitialmargintocreate200 of initial margin to create 1,000 of market exposure. Your P&L still moves with the $1,000 position.

​
What leverage changes

Higher leverage:
  • reduces the initial margin needed for the same position value
  • increases the position value you can open with the same collateral
  • leaves less room for adverse price movement before margin becomes a problem
It does not improve the quality of the trade.

​
Maximum leverage

Maximum leverage varies by market. Leap shows the market’s leverage information in Explore and in the trading interface. A major market may support more leverage than a smaller or less liquid market. If a market offers high maximum leverage, treat that as a limit, not a recommendation.

​
Cross margin

The current Leap trading interface uses Cross margin as the primary margin mode shown in Simple and Pro. With cross margin, collateral is shared across your cross-margin positions. That can be capital-efficient because profitable positions and unused collateral can support the account. It also means losses in one cross-margin position can reduce the buffer available to other positions.

​
Available margin

Available margin is the part of the account that can still support new or existing positions. It changes as you:
  • open or close positions
  • make or lose unrealized P&L
  • add or withdraw funds
  • pay or receive funding
  • change exposure

​
Margin used

Margin used is collateral currently tied to your open exposure. A growing position can therefore affect both the size of the trade and how much flexibility remains in the rest of the account.

​
Practical rule

Choose the position size first, then use leverage as a margin setting. Doing it in the opposite order — choosing high leverage because it lets you open a bigger position — is one of the easiest ways to take more risk than intended.