Margin, or collateral: isolated and cross

Margin is the part of your own funds that you lock up to open and maintain a leveraged position. The required initial margin depends on leverage: the higher it is, the smaller the collateral for a given position size. There is also maintenance margin, the minimum level of capital below which the platform may close your position.

In crypto, you will find two modes: isolated margin, where you risk only the collateral assigned to the position, and cross margin, where the shared capital in your account backs all positions and can be used up entirely. Trading on margin requires constant monitoring, because unrealized losses reduce your available margin.