FuturesHUB / Cross margin
Perpetual futures
Cross margin
Cross margin is a shared pool. The wallet backs all of the cross positions together, which delays liquidation on a single loser and couples their fates.
One balance, several positions
Unrealized profit on one cross position increases equity available to the others. Unrealized loss reduces it. A bitcoin long that is working can keep an alt short from liquidating, and an alt short that gaps can drag the bitcoin position into liquidation with it.
The liquidation price shown on a cross position depends on the whole wallet. It moves when you open another position, when funding posts, or when you withdraw. A number you wrote down in the morning can be stale by the afternoon without the original mark having moved.
When the shared pool helps
Cross is coherent when the positions are one idea spread across contracts, and you want the collateral pooled. A hedge that is long one contract and short a related contract often belongs in one pool so the winner automatically funds the loser.
Cross is a poor fit when the positions are unrelated bets you wanted capped. Isolated mode is the fence for that. Mixing one experimental position into a cross wallet that also holds a long-term hedge puts the hedge's collateral in play.
Orders reserve margin too
Open orders in cross mode reserve initial margin from the same pool. A ladder of resting limits can consume the buffer you thought was protecting a live position. Cancel stale orders when you are measuring the distance to liquidation.
Switching a live position from isolated to cross, or the reverse, changes the liquidation price immediately. Do it only when you have recalculated the new level and you accept the new claim on the wallet.
On the ticket
- List every cross position and every resting order that reserves margin. The liquidation price depends on the list.
- Keep unrelated experiments on isolated margin so they cannot spend the hedge.
- Re-read cross liquidation prices after any fill, funding timestamp, or withdrawal.
- If you only want a sketch of one position, use the tools page and remember that it assumes isolated margin.
Questions
Why did my liquidation price move when I opened a different coin?
In cross mode the wallet is shared. The new position reserved collateral and changed the equity backing the first position.
Does the tools workbook model cross margin?
No. The liquidation sketch is isolated, with maintenance assumed at 0.5%. A cross ticket will show a different level because the whole wallet is included.