BullIsolated vs Cross Margin: Which One Protects Your Account?
BullCalc Team · · 2 min read
Before you open a futures position, most exchanges ask you to choose a margin mode: isolated or cross. It is a small toggle, but it decides how much of your money is on the line if a trade goes badly.
Isolated margin
In isolated mode, each position has its own margin. If you open a long with 100 USDT of margin, only those 100 USDT can be lost. When the losses reach that margin (minus a small maintenance buffer), the position is liquidated and the rest of your futures balance is untouched.
The liquidation price is easy to estimate because it depends only on the entry, the leverage and the maintenance margin rate. That is what the liquidation price calculator shows.
Cross margin
In cross mode, your whole futures wallet backs every open position. A losing trade can draw on all of your available balance to stay open. This pushes the liquidation price much further away, but when liquidation does happen, it can take a much larger part of the account.
Profits on one cross position can also support losses on another, so the liquidation price of each position moves as the others change.
Side by side
| Isolated | Cross | |
|---|---|---|
| Max loss per position | Its own margin | Whole futures balance |
| Liquidation distance | Closer | Further |
| Easy to calculate | Yes | Depends on all positions |
| Good for | Single trades with a clear stop | Hedges and experienced traders |
Which one should you use?
For most traders, especially beginners, isolated margin is the safer default. It puts a hard cap on what one trade can cost and makes the liquidation price predictable. Combined with a stop loss that sits before the liquidation price, you always know your worst case.
Cross margin can make sense for traders who run several positions that offset each other, or who manage risk with stops and want to avoid being liquidated by a short wick. The danger is psychological as much as technical: with cross, a losing trade can quietly keep borrowing from the rest of your balance while you hope it comes back.
A simple rule
Whichever mode you use, the stop loss should be your exit, not the liquidation. If you ever find that your liquidation price comes before your stop, lower the leverage or reduce the position. The leverage calculator shows the highest leverage that keeps the stop in front.
Liquidation Price Calculator
Check how far the price can move against you before an isolated futures position is liquidated.
Open the calculatorThis article is for education only and is not financial advice.