Margin Level

What Is Margin Level?

Margin level is the percent ratio of your account equity to used margin. It helps you calculate how much money you have available for margin trading. The higher your margin level, the more cash you have on hand to trade.

If your margin level drops below 100%, you may not open new spot positions on margin until your margin level is back over 100%. If your margin level drops to 80% or lower, your positions may be forcibly closed, or “liquidated” (see "Margin Call Level" and "Margin Liquidation Level"). It is your responsibility as a trader to proactively monitor your margin level.

What Is Equity?

This is the sum of your collateral holdings (or “trade balance”) plus/minus any paper profit or loss on open positions.

How Is Margin Level Calculated?

Margin level is calculated as:

Margin level = (equity ÷ used margin)×100

Example

If your account equity is $8,000 and your used margin is $2,000 then your margin level is 400%. Margin level is very important because it tracks your margin trading potential and the overall status of your open spot positions on margin. If it falls to 100% you will not be able to open new positions, and if it falls more, some of your spot positions on margin may be automatically closed. If your margin level is getting close to 100%, you can raise it, either by adding collateral funds to your account to increase equity or by closing some open spot positions on margin to reduce used margin.