Liquidation Price on a Perp: How to Estimate It Before You Enter
Every leveraged perp trade has a price where the position is forcibly closed: the liquidation price. Knowing that number before you enter is basic risk hygiene, and a liquidation price calculator perpetual futures traders can run in seconds is the fastest way to get it. We publish a free one at myfundedperpetuals.com/tools/liquidation-price-calculator. This article walks through the inputs, the math behind the estimate, the cross-versus-isolated difference, and why at MyFundedPerps the account loss floors usually matter more than the liquidation print.
Liquidation price calculator perpetual futures: the four inputs
The liquidation price calculator estimates a long or short position's liquidation price from four values:
- Entry price: where the position opens.
- Leverage: the ratio between position notional and assigned margin. More leverage magnifies the effect of price movement on your margin and pushes liquidation closer to entry.
- Margin mode: cross or isolated. This changes which collateral backs the trade and therefore where liquidation sits.
- Maintenance margin: the minimum collateral ratio the venue requires to keep the position open. When your margin falls to this level, liquidation triggers.
Enter the terms for your scenario, not the defaults. The opening values in the calculator are examples; replace balances, prices, and percentages with the values you want to compare. Your account dashboard and the order form remain the references for your actual terms.
The intuition behind the math
Strip away the venue details and liquidation is a simple idea: your margin absorbs losses, and when it is nearly exhausted, the position is closed. A rough mental model for an isolated long:
Liquidation distance (%) is approximately 1 / leverage, minus maintenance margin and fee effects.
So a 10x isolated long starts with roughly 10% of room before the margin is gone, and maintenance margin plus costs pull the actual liquidation a bit closer than that full distance. A 3x long has roughly a third of the price range as room. Shorts mirror the logic: price rising eats the margin.
The calculator exists because the precise figure depends on maintenance-margin tiers and fees, which is exactly why mental math should only be a sanity check. Two positions at the same leverage can liquidate at different prices if their sizes fall in different maintenance tiers.
Cross vs isolated: where liquidation actually sits
Margin mode is the biggest lever on the liquidation price:
- Isolated margin: the position gets a fixed margin bucket. Liquidation sits at a defined distance from entry, your loss on the trade is limited to the assigned margin, and you can top up manually if you want more room.
- Cross margin: eligible account collateral supports cross-margin positions together. The liquidation price moves further away because the whole available balance backs the trade, and margin is added automatically from free balance. The trade-off: a bad trade can drain the account.
Choose isolated when you want a known liquidation price per trade. Choose cross when you want maximum distance from liquidation and accept that the whole balance is on the line.
Why liquidation is often not your real floor here
On a prop account, account-level rules usually breach before the position's liquidation price. At MyFundedPerps, both the max drawdown and the daily loss limit are measured on account equity, including open-position P&L:
- Daily loss limit: 3% of starting balance on every plan, reset at midnight New York time.
- Static max drawdown: 3% Select, 5% Prime, 6% Signature, calculated from the starting balance and never trailing.
- After your first funded withdrawal, the max-loss floor locks permanently to the starting balance.
Run the numbers: on a $100K Select account the max-loss floor is $97,000, just 3% down. A 10x cross-margin long with the full balance behind it might show a liquidation price 9% away, but your account breaches at a 3% equity loss. The liquidation print is irrelevant if the drawdown floor gets there first. Our myfundedperps-static-drawdown and myfundedperps-rules-explained articles cover those floors in full.
The liquidation penalty and other costs
If a position does get liquidated on our platform, a 0.1% liquidation penalty is added on top of the taker fee. Commissions (0.03% crypto, 0.0025% forex, 0.005% on stocks, commodities, and indices per fill) and hourly swap fees also reduce balance and therefore loss-rule headroom. Fees and holding costs shrink your margin cushion over time, which is one more reason the calculator's output is an estimate, not a promise. See myfundedperps-fees-breakdown for the complete cost model.
What the calculator does not know
Our docs are explicit about the limits of the tool: the liquidation calculator is an estimate. Maintenance-margin tiers, other positions, fees, and venue rules can move the actual liquidation price, and its cross-margin scenario is not a complete simulation of a portfolio. Treat the output as a planning number:
- Calculate the estimated liquidation price for your planned size and leverage.
- Check it against your stop loss. Your stop should sit well inside both the liquidation price and your account loss floors.
- Check it against the account floors: how much equity can you lose before daily loss or max drawdown breaches? The Drawdown Breach calculator at myfundedperpetuals.com/tools/drawdown-breach-calculator estimates remaining room above daily and overall loss floors, though the dashboard's enforced floors are the final word.
- Size the position from the stop distance, not the other way around. The Position Size calculator works back from a dollar risk budget and stop distance; a stop is not a guaranteed execution price, since slippage and market conditions can change the fill.
Leverage context
Maximum leverage varies by market: 10x on BTC and ETH, 8x on SOL, BNB, and XRP, 50x on forex, 12x on SP500 and NAS100, 5x on stocks, and 3x on most altcoins, all as of launch day, September 2026; figures may have changed since. The live table is at myfundedperpetuals.com/exposure-caps, and our myfundedperps-markets-guide covers the 130 launch markets. Higher available leverage does not mean you should use it; it only means the platform allows a closer liquidation price.
Frequently asked questions
What inputs does a liquidation price calculator for perpetual futures need?
Four: entry price, leverage, margin mode (cross or isolated), and maintenance margin. Our free calculator at myfundedperpetuals.com/tools/liquidation-price-calculator estimates the liquidation price for longs and shorts from those inputs.
Is the calculator's liquidation price exact?
No. It is an estimate. Maintenance-margin tiers, other open positions, fees, and venue rules can shift the real figure, and the cross-margin scenario is not a full portfolio simulation.
Does cross margin always save a position?
It moves liquidation further away by backing the trade with your whole available balance, but a losing cross position can drain the account. It also does not protect you from account-level daily loss or drawdown breaches, which measure equity.
What happens if my position is liquidated at MyFundedPerps?
The position is closed and a 0.1% liquidation penalty is charged on top of the taker fee. Separately, if your equity has breached the daily loss or max drawdown floor, the account fails regardless of the liquidation itself.
What matters more, liquidation price or drawdown floor?
On a prop account, usually the drawdown floor. A 3% to 6% static max loss breaches well before the liquidation price of a sensibly leveraged position, so size trades against the account floors first.