Leverage PnL / Risk Calculator

How to use this leverage PnL / risk calculator

The margin is the capital you actually put into this trade; the leverage is how many times you borrow to magnify it — 10x means a 200 margin holds up a 2,000 notional position; the price move percentage is how much you assume the asset rises or falls — enter a positive number (say 5) to see the gain in a favorable move, a negative number (say -5) to see the loss against you. With all three in, the right side gives this trade's PnL amount, PnL percentage, and the most important item: how far price must move against you to liquidate.

In the default example — 200 margin, 10x, price 5% your way — the PnL is +100 USDT, half the principal. Looks lovely, but flip it: at the same 10x, price only has to move 10% against you and your margin is basically zeroed and force-liquidated. The higher the leverage, the shorter this "fatal distance": 20x only withstands a 5% adverse swing, 50x only 2%. A few percent of movement in a day is routine in crypto, so under high leverage a perfectly ordinary pullback can sweep you out.

Why leverage is an amplifier, not a money printer

Many people read leverage as "small money making big money," seeing only the profit-magnifying side. But the essence of leverage is to magnify everything proportionally — magnify profit by a multiple, magnify loss by the same multiple, and shorten the liquidation distance by the same multiple. It doesn't change the odds of your read being right or wrong; it only multiplies the consequence of each right or wrong call. The result: right and you earn a lot, wrong and you lose fast — and beginners often jump to high leverage before they've learned to control position size, getting knocked out in one or two adverse swings.

• PnL % = price move % × leverage. At 10x, a 1% price move moves your principal 10%.
• PnL amount = margin × PnL %. This is the money truly moving in and out of your account.
• Liquidation threshold ≈ a 100 ÷ leverage % move against you. The higher the multiple, the smaller this number, and the less movement it can take.

This computes the simplified liquidation threshold; the real liquidation price also factors in the maintenance margin rate, funding and more, so for precision use the Liquidation Price Calculator. Before opening, use the Position / Risk Calculator to set the most this trade can lose — far more important than simply tweaking leverage. For the basic concepts of futures, see Binance Academy's perpetual futures explainer.