Why Does My Long Position Size Decrease When I Open a Short Position on the Same Contract?

Your Long position size decreases because of Short Netting, a Crypto Futures mechanism that calculates your net position by subtracting your open Short position size from your existing Long position size on the same contract. What you see reflects your net exposure, not two separate positions sitting side by side — Pluang doesn't let a Long and a Short on the same contract coexist as independent line items. This is a structural feature of how positions are tracked, not an error or a display glitch: every order you place on a contract where you already hold an opposing position gets applied directly against that position first. If your new Short is smaller than your existing Long, the Long simply shrinks by the Short's size; if the Short is larger, the Long closes out entirely and the leftover becomes a fresh Short position for the difference.

How it works:

• Short Netting only applies within the same contract — a Short you open on a different contract has no effect on a Long position elsewhere, since netting never crosses contract boundaries.
• The netting happens automatically the moment your Short order fills; there's no separate step to merge the positions yourself, and no toggle to turn the behavior off.
• Your remaining position after netting reflects the difference between the Long and Short size, always showing as a single net position on that contract rather than two offsetting entries.
• Because netting is automatic, the resulting Margin Required for the new order can show as 0 if it's fully absorbed by closing part of an existing opposing position rather than opening new exposure.
• This design means you cannot run a simultaneous Long and Short (a genuine same-contract hedge) on Pluang; achieving offsetting exposure requires opening the opposite position on a different contract instead.

Related questions:

Q: Does Short Netting apply across different contracts?
No. Short Netting only nets a Long and Short position on the exact same contract — positions on other contracts are unaffected and continue to run independently of each other regardless of direction. This means you can hold a Long on one contract and a Short on a completely different contract at the same time without either one ever netting against the other.

Q: Do I end up with two separate positions after opening a Short against my Long?
No. The system nets them into a single position reflecting your net exposure on that contract; you will never see a Long line and a Short line coexisting for the same contract in your portfolio view. Whatever remains after netting is what you're exposed to going forward, and any realized PnL from the portion that offset gets booked immediately rather than staying tied up in an open position.

Q: Is Short Netting something I need to activate?
No. It happens automatically whenever you open a Short position on a contract where you already hold a Long position, or vice versa — there's no setting to enable or disable this behavior. It applies uniformly across all 49 active Crypto Futures contracts, regardless of leverage tier or margin mode, so you can't opt out of netting on any specific contract you trade.

Q: Can I tell in advance how netting will affect my position before placing the order?
Yes. Compare the size of your planned order against your existing position size on that contract — if it's smaller, it partially offsets; if it's equal, it fully closes; if it's larger, it flips your position to the opposite direction for the remaining size. Working through this comparison before confirming an order helps you avoid surprises, especially if your intent was to add exposure rather than reduce or reverse an existing position.