Liquidation Price Formula for Binance and Bybit (Isolated vs Cross, Worked Examples)

The liquidation price formula for an isolated long is: (entry price × size − margin) ÷ (size × (1 − maintenance margin rate)). Your position is liquidated when the mark price reaches that level, which sits before the point where your margin is fully gone. Cross margin uses the same idea, but the margin is your whole wallet balance minus the maintenance margin and open loss of your other positions, so the price is further away.

Binance and Bybit publish their own versions of this formula, with extra terms for fees, maintenance amounts and other positions. This guide builds the formula from the simple case, then checks it against worked examples from both exchanges' help centers, read on 16 Oct 2026. Treat every number as a model: your platform's own position panel is the final word.

Liquidation price formula in plain terms

A position is liquidated when the margin behind it no longer covers the loss plus the maintenance margin the exchange requires. Binance states the trigger as collateral (initial collateral plus realized and unrealized PnL) falling below maintenance margin. Both exchanges trigger on the mark price, not the last traded price.

For a long, the algebra is short. Your margin absorbs losses until only the maintenance margin is left, so the liquidation price is entry price minus the loss your margin can bear, adjusted for the maintenance rate:

The figure is a simplified version of Bybit's isolated USDT formula with no extra margin, no fee and no maintenance deduction. Bybit's full version for a long reads: [(Entry Price × Position Size) − (Entry Price × Position Size ÷ Leverage) − (Extra Margin Added ÷ (1 − Taker Fee Rate)) − MM Deduction] ÷ [Position Size − (Position Size × MM Rate)]. Shorts flip the signs and use (1 + MM rate) in the denominator.

Take a made-up 1 BTC long at 60,000 with 10x leverage. The margin is 6,000. With a 0.5% maintenance margin rate:

(60,000 × 1 − 6,000) ÷ (1 × 0.995) = 54,271.36

The price only has to fall about 9.5% from entry, not the full 10% that leverage alone suggests, because the exchange wants its maintenance margin left over.

Entry, liquidation and bankruptcy price

Three prices matter on the way down. The entry is where you opened. The liquidation price is where the exchange steps in. The bankruptcy price is where the margin is gone entirely. Bybit's liquidation page says a position that cannot meet maintenance margin is liquidated and closed at the bankruptcy price.

In the example the numbered levels are: 1) entry at 60,000, 2) liquidation at 54,271, 3) bankruptcy at 54,000. The gap between 2 and 3 is the maintenance margin cushion, 0.5% of position value. In a fast market the fill can land beyond the liquidation price. Binance's own example shows a BTCUSDT short with a calculated liquidation price of 17,006 that was triggered at 17,100 after a rapid move.

The quick estimate in the BiasNex tool

Our liquidation price calculator uses the shortest version of the formula: entry × (1 − 1 ÷ leverage) for a long and entry × (1 + 1 ÷ leverage) for a short. It ignores maintenance margin, fees and extra margin, so it is a first estimate, not an exchange quote.

The table shows how fast the room shrinks. At 2x a long has half the price to work with. At 50x it has 2%, which is 58,800 from a 60,000 entry. For what the multiplier does and does not change, see what 10x leverage means. The real exchange level is a little closer to entry than these figures, because the maintenance margin rate is on top. Before you open a trade, check the number against your stop: if the stop is beyond the liquidation price, the exchange closes you first. The position size calculator sets the size from your risk, so the stop and the liquidation can be planned together.

Isolated vs cross: three prices for one position

Here is the same 1 BTC long at 60,000 under three models:

The isolated row is the formula above. The cross row uses a 10,000 USDT wallet behind the single position, with no other positions and no maintenance deduction: (60,000 − 10,000) ÷ 0.995 = 50,251.26. More collateral behind the trade moves the liquidation price down by about 4,000 points, but a hit now costs the whole 10,000. The mode trade-off is covered in isolated vs cross margin.

Binance cross margin: a worked example

Binance's help center, in "How to Calculate Liquidation Price of USDⓈ-M Futures Contracts" (updated 31 Dec 2025), gives a one-way cross example with two long positions sharing one wallet. The formula itself is an image on the page, but the inputs and results are text:

• Wallet balance: 1,535,443.01 USDT.
• ETHUSDT long: 3,683.979 ETH, entry 1,456.84, mark 1,335.18, maintenance margin rate 10%, maintenance amount 135,365. Liquidation price: 1,153.26.
• BTCUSDT long: 109.488 BTC, entry 32,481.98, mark 31,967.27, maintenance margin rate 2.5%, maintenance amount 16,300. Liquidation price: 26,316.89.

Binance defines maintenance margin as position notional × maintenance margin rate − maintenance amount. The tier numbers matter: a 10% rate on the ETH position and a maintenance amount make a big difference to where the line sits. The example also shows why cross is a portfolio calculation. Each position's price is computed with the other position's maintenance margin and unrealized loss counted against the wallet, and the page notes small differences can come from decimals.

By the arithmetic, the BTC liquidation price is about 17.7% below its mark and the ETH one about 13.6% below its mark. They are a result of this particular wallet, not a rule.

Bybit isolated margin: a worked example

Bybit's liquidation page (last updated 15 Oct 2026) uses a long of 1 BTC at 40,000 USDT with 50x leverage, 3,000 USDT of extra margin added, a 0.5% maintenance margin rate and a 0.055% taker fee rate. Its steps:

1. Position value: 1 × 40,000 = 40,000 USDT.
2. Margin from leverage: 40,000 ÷ 50 = 800 USDT.
3. Extra margin, grossed up for the fee: 3,000 ÷ (1 − 0.055%) = 3,001.65 USDT.
4. Numerator: 40,000 − 800 − 3,001.65 = 36,198.35.
5. Denominator: 1 − 0.5% = 0.995.
6. Liquidation price: 36,198.35 ÷ 0.995 = 36,380.25 USDT.

Bybit's page prints 36,380.25 USDT. Adding margin pushed the level far below the 39,200 that 50x alone gives. Note the lesson: at 50x with no extra margin, the level is within about 2% of entry.

How it looks on a real chart

To see these levels on real candles, take a hypothetical long opened at the 13 Oct 2026 00:00 UTC open of BTCUSDT, 81,850.01, with the isolated formula and a 0.5% maintenance margin rate. The 50x level comes out at 80,616 and the 20x level at 78,148.

Two 4h candles on 15 Oct (1: the 00:00 UTC candle, low 80,226.35; 2: the 12:00 UTC candle, low 79,800) traded below the 50x level. On a real 50x position that is a liquidation. Neither reached the 20x level. These are last-price candles; exchanges liquidate on the mark price, which can differ slightly from the last price, so a wick on this chart is a guide, not proof of what the mark did.

Common mistakes

• Using leverage alone. 1 ÷ leverage ignores maintenance margin, so the real level is closer to entry.
• Reading the last-price chart. Liquidation follows the mark price. Both exchanges say so.
• Treating one number as exact. Maintenance margin rates are tiered by position size, and the tiers change.
• Forgetting that extra margin moves the level. Adding margin to an isolated position changes the price, as the Bybit example shows.
• Putting the stop beyond the liquidation price. The exchange closes you before your stop fills.
• Assuming cross is safer. Cross moves the line further away and raises what you can lose.

Take your own position's numbers into the calculator for a first estimate, then confirm it in the exchange. More lessons live in the Learn ICT hub, and the reason the mark matters is explained in mark price vs last price.

FAQ

What is the liquidation price formula for a long? For an isolated USDT long without extra margin: (entry × size − margin) ÷ (size × (1 − maintenance margin rate)). Exchanges add terms for fees, extra margin and maintenance amounts.

How do I calculate liquidation price on Binance? Binance computes it from your wallet balance (cross) or position margin (isolated), the position's maintenance margin rate and maintenance amount, and the other positions in cross mode. The exact formula is on Binance's USDⓈ-M help article, and the position panel shows the live number.

Is the liquidation price the same on Binance and Bybit? Not for the same trade. Margin modes, maintenance margin tiers, fee terms and position rules differ, so the levels differ. Use each exchange's own numbers.

Does liquidation use the mark price or the last price? The mark price on both Binance and Bybit. The last price can wick through your level without liquidating you, and the reverse can also happen.

Why is my real liquidation price closer than the calculator shows? The simple tool ignores maintenance margin and fees. Adding them moves the level toward entry for a long.

Sources: Binance: How to Calculate Liquidation Price of USDⓈ-M Futures Contracts, Binance liquidation protocols, Bybit: Trading Rules, Liquidation Process (UTA), all read on 16 Oct 2026.