What Is Leverage in Perpetual Trading?
Leverage lets you open a Crypto Futures position worth more than the capital you actually put up, using buying power extended against your margin rather than requiring you to pay the full position value upfront. A ratio such as 5x, 10x, or 20x shows the multiple applied to your capital — $100 in margin at 5x leverage controls a $500 position, and that same $100 at 20x controls a $2,000 position. Higher leverage means a larger position for the same capital outlay, so potential profit moves faster, but it also means a smaller adverse price move is needed to erode your margin and trigger liquidation, since Maintenance Margin is fixed at 2.5% of notional value regardless of leverage.
- Leverage multiplies your position size, not your margin — the $100 in the example above is still the only capital you're actually risking.
- Capital you free up by using leverage can be used to open other positions or held as a buffer.
- The trade-off: the higher the leverage, the smaller the adverse price move needed to erode your margin and trigger liquidation.
- Leverage is set per position and available ranges vary by contract — 46 of Pluang's 49 active contracts support up to 25x, while BAT, FIL, and ZRX are capped at a maximum of 10x.
Related questions:
Q: Does higher leverage increase my potential profit?
Yes, because it lets you control a larger position with the same margin — but leverage magnifies losses at exactly the same rate it magnifies gains, so it's not a way to improve your odds of profiting, only the size of the outcome.
Q: How does leverage affect my liquidation risk?
Higher leverage narrows the price movement needed to erase your margin, so highly leveraged positions get liquidated faster on a move against you. This is a direct, mechanical consequence of how margin and notional value interact.
Q: Can I use different leverage levels on different positions?
Yes. Leverage is set per position, so you can run different levels on different Crypto Futures contracts at the same time based on how much risk you want on each trade.
Q: Is leverage itself a fee I pay?
No. Leverage is buying power against your margin, not a purchase — though standard Crypto Futures fees still apply to the trade itself regardless of leverage.
Q: Does my leverage change automatically as my position's value moves?
No. The leverage ratio you select stays fixed for that position; what changes as the market moves is your unrealized profit or loss and Margin Level, not the leverage multiple itself.