Trading · 95 / 127 · 2 min
Isolated and cross
Isolated margin is the deposit on one trade. Cross margin lets that trade reach the rest of the account. The venue chooses the default.
Isolated stops at one trade. Cross can take the rest of the account.
A worked case
A person leaves a position on the venue's default. The default is cross. A move closes the position and the available balance goes with it. The other coins in the account were the margin.
One box
Isolated means the most that position can take is the margin assigned to it. A liquidation closes that position. Other balances stay put, on that rule.
The whole account
Cross means the venue can use the rest of the available balance to hold the position open, and can take it when the position fails. One trade can empty an account that looked separate.
Read the mode before you leave the position open. A default you never opened is still the rule.
One trade, or the account
Venues that offer leverage also offer a choice about how far a loss can reach. Isolated margin assigns a sum to one position. If that position is liquidated, the assigned sum is what goes. Cross margin treats the available balance as margin for the position, so a loss can draw the account down.
BitMEX writes the choice into its exchange rules. The user selects isolated or cross for a position. Failing the maintenance requirement liquidates it. On cross, the available balance in that currency is the margin. The button belongs to the venue, and so does the default, until it has been read.
Read it yourself
These links are the record. They are not a recommendation, and they are not instructions. A news story or a court paper can still be wrong about a detail. The check does not change because a famous name is in the story.
Apply the check
Open a question. The line is about this topic. It is not a verdict that anything is safe.
The venue, from the fee and from the liquidation.
The venue's margin rule, and the mode on the position.
That rule, across the balance the mode can see.
Check yourself
Write it in your own words. The course's answer opens after that. Nothing is sent.
After this you can name whether the position can reach the rest of the account.