Leverage by asset class
In the settings, Leverage by asset class holds one leverage for each of the five classes. An order in lots opens at the leverage set for its instrument’s class, held to the instrument’s own cap. A change applies to the positions opened after it; nothing already open moves. A new account starts at:
Each class can be set to any whole number from 1 to 500. Your answers to the questions at
registration can cap it lower.
Each instrument has its own cap
An instrument’s terms set the leverage it allows, and that cap applies on top of your class setting: a class at 1:500 opens a currency pair capped at 1:100 at 1:100. Most instruments are capped at 1:100 today; some names carry a lower cap. The leverage dialog and the markets page show the range of the instrument on screen. On a market traded by amount, most crypto coins among them, the ticket’s dialog sets the leverage of each order within the instrument’s range.The required margin
What the broker holds against a position depends on how the instrument is margined:- An instrument traded in lots: the notional (lots times contract size times price) divided by the leverage, in the currency the instrument is quoted in. One lot of EUR/USD (100,000 EUR) at 1.1200 is 112,000 USD of notional; at 1:100 it holds 1,120 USD. 0.1 lot of gold (10 ounces) at 4,000 USD is 40,000 USD of notional; at 1:100 it holds 400 USD.
- A market traded by amount: the amount you enter is the margin, and the position is that amount times the leverage. 500 USD at 1:10 opens a 5,000 USD position.
Equity, used margin, free margin, margin level
On an account margined per position, the margin level is informative: each position liquidates on
its own. On an account margined as a whole, it is the figure the stop-out reads. See
Liquidation, margin calls and stop-outs.
Why a higher leverage is a closer liquidation
A position margined per position is liquidated when its price loss reaches a share of its margin, 84% up to 1:25 and 70% from 1:60 (the table is on Fees and spread). That share divided by the leverage is the move that closes it:
A figure copied from another broker is not the same risk here: there the leverage sizes the margin
of an account whose whole equity backs each position; here, by default, each position is closed
on its own margin.