Note: Liquidations can also happen due to our margin financing term limits.

Margin Call Level

Margin Call Level is the margin level at which you are in danger of having some of your positions forcibly closed (or "liquidated"). When your margin level reaches 80% you may receive a margin call email prompting you to either close some of your positions or deposit more collateral funds. The margin call level can vary depending on the volatility of the currency pair, but a rough estimate is 80%. 

Margin Call Level notifications are generally sent by email, but advanced notifications are not guaranteed. As such, it is important to proactively monitor your margin level.

The number of positions closed is at our discretion - we may close all your positions or only enough to get your margin level above 100%. Positions will be liquidated in the order First In, First Out (FIFO) regardless of currency pair or whether or not the position is in profit. 

A liquidated position uses the value of your positions and account balance to protect our reserves for leveraged trading (all funds used for the position come from our margin pools). Liquidations are designed to occur at levels that will protect our margin pools from loss, ensuring our funds remain available to all clients who wish to trade on margin. 

At the Margin Call Level and below, yet still above the Margin Liquidation Level, liquidation is at Kraken's discretion. That means that liquidation can happen at any point between the Margin Call Level of 80% and the Margin Liquidation Level of 40%. 

Margin Liquidation Level

This is the margin level at which the automated liquidation process will occur. This level can vary depending on volatility, but a rough estimate is about 40%, however it is still possible to be liquidated at a margin level of 80%, at Kraken's discretion. 

Note: Liquidation is not discretionary below the Margin Liquidation Level of 40%. Once the liquidation process has started, it is not possible to stop it. The process is automated and our customer support team has no ability to stop liquidations once they have started.