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Margin is the money that backs a leveraged position — the collateral behind the trade. Understand margin, and which margin mode a market uses, and you understand your real risk on every position.

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What margin does

When you open a position with leverage, you’re controlling more exposure than the cash you put up. The cash you do put up is the margin. It absorbs the position’s losses as the market moves: if the position loses value, the loss comes out of the margin. If the losses approach the point where the margin can no longer cover them, the position is closed by liquidation.

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Two margin modes

Every market on Turbo uses one of two margin modes. The mode is a property of the market, shown on its trade screen — check it before you size up, because it decides your worst case.

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Isolated margin

The position has its own dedicated margin, ring-fenced from everything else.
  • You know your worst case before you start. If the position is liquidated, you lose that position’s margin — your other positions and your available cash are untouched. One bad trade can’t cascade through your account.
  • Positions don’t rescue each other. A winning position’s profits don’t automatically prop up a losing one. Each trade lives or dies on its own margin.
Most newer listings trade on isolated margin — including Pre-IPO markets.

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Cross margin

The position shares collateral with your other cross positions — your balance backs them collectively.
  • Bigger cushion per trade. A cross position can draw on the shared balance, so it can ride out moves that would liquidate an equivalent isolated position.
  • Bigger worst case. Losses aren’t capped at what you first posted — a cross position that moves far enough against you can draw down the shared balance backing all your cross positions.
Some of the most established markets — gold, or BTC — trade on cross margin. In short: isolated caps the damage per trade; cross gives a trade more staying power but puts more at stake. Not sure which you’re in? The trade screen tells you.

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Managing margin on an open position

On an isolated position, you can add margin from the position screen — this pushes its liquidation price further away and improves its margin health. On cross positions, the cushion is your shared balance, so adding funds to your account strengthens every cross position at once. Either way, make it a deliberate choice, not a reflex — repeatedly topping up a losing trade is how small losses become large ones. Often the honest alternative is closing part of the position, or letting a stop loss do its job.
  • Your balance — where used margin and health show up on screen.
  • Liquidation — the mechanics of the worst case, in both modes.