FuturesHUB / Isolated margin
Perpetual futures
Isolated margin
Isolated margin is a fence around one position. You decide how much collateral sits inside the fence. The venue liquidates what is inside when the mark says it is no longer enough.
What is inside the fence
The position has its own margin balance, its own leverage, and its own liquidation price. Adding margin to an isolated position pushes the liquidation price away. Removing margin, when the venue allows it, pulls liquidation closer and returns collateral to the wallet.
Other positions and the idle wallet are outside the calculation. A second coin can rally while this position is liquidated. That separation is the reason to choose isolated when you want a hard cap on one idea.
The cap is real, with edges
If the mark gaps through the liquidation price, the position can lose more than the assigned margin before the engine finishes. The insurance fund is built for that residual. Isolated mode limits the claim on the rest of your wallet. It does not repeal gap risk inside the position.
Fees and funding are charged to the margin balance of the position. A small isolated balance and a high funding rate can liquidate a position that would have survived on price alone. Watch the balance, not only the liquidation price.
The desk sketch is isolated
The practice desk and the tools liquidation sketch both assume isolated margin. They do not model a cross wallet feeding the position. If you trade cross, the ticket's liquidation price already includes the extra balance, and our sketch will look more pessimistic than the ticket.
When you compare the two, compare them as different margin modes. Bring the sketch toward the ticket by using the venue's maintenance rate and the venue's mark, not by assuming the sketch is wrong because the numbers differ.
On the ticket
- Set the ticket to isolated before you rely on a capped loss.
- Assign margin deliberately. Extra margin inside the fence is distance to liquidation. Margin left in the wallet is not.
- After funding posts, re-read the isolated balance. Add margin if the buffer shrank more than you planned.
- Use the tools sketch as the isolated picture. Use the ticket if you switched the position to cross.
Questions
Does isolated margin protect the whole account?
It keeps that position from spending the rest of the wallet. A gap through liquidation can still consume the isolated margin and leave a residual for the insurance fund.
Can I add margin without adding size?
Yes, on a typical isolated ticket. Adding margin moves the liquidation price away and does not by itself increase notional.