Exposure can be larger than your deposit
Leverage allows a position’s exposure to exceed the margin supporting it. Changes in the position’s value are then large relative to that margin. A long position generally benefits from a rising price; a short generally benefits from a falling price, before costs and product-specific effects.
Margin is not the same as the amount of market exposure. A quoted leverage multiple also does not capture every risk in the account.
Perpetual contracts and funding
Perpetual contracts usually have no fixed expiry. Funding payments help keep the contract price aligned with a reference market. Depending on the rate, long positions pay short positions or the reverse. Funding is separate from the position’s trading profit or loss and from exchange fees.
Rates and payment intervals vary. Receiving funding on one occasion does not make the position profitable or imply the rate will persist.
Liquidation can arrive before the margin is gone
Venues require maintenance margin. If the account falls below the required level, positions can be reduced or closed. The trigger can use a mark price rather than the last traded price. Fees, funding, collateral values and other positions can affect the threshold.
Cross margin can expose shared account collateral to losses from one position. Isolated margin separates a specified allocation, subject to the venue’s rules and any additional-margin settings. Neither label means a position is safe.
Orders are not insurance
A stop order depends on trigger and execution rules. Fast moves, gaps, low liquidity or platform outages can prevent the outcome a trader expected. A stop-limit order may trigger but never fill.
Takeaway: understand the exposure, collateral at risk, funding and liquidation mechanism before interpreting a leverage number.
Further reading
Provider documentation explains particular designs. It is not a product endorsement.