Synthetic leverage, longs and shorts

LiveLast verified 4 Nov 2026

A leveraged Synthetic position lets you open a position larger than the money you put in, betting on the price going up (Long) or down (Short), with a liquidation price that closes the position if the price moves too far against you.

How it works

You pick a leverage up to the mode's maximum, type the position size in dollars and open a Long or a Short. Before you confirm, the app shows the liquidation price for each side and the cost (margin plus open fee) that leaves your balance. A position stays open until you close it, it is liquidated or the token expires. Through the API: tradeOpenAPI and tradeCloseAPI.

How a position ends

Rules

• Leverage runs from 1x to the mode's maximum (see Speed modes).
• A long at 1x has no liquidation price. Every short has one, even at 1x, because the price can rise without limit.
• Liquidation is triggered by the token's price touching the liquidation price. The position closes at once. A price that comes back later does not reopen it.
• When a position is liquidated you get nothing back, even though some margin is still left at that moment (see below).
• Positions fill at once at the current price. There is no order book and no slippage setting.
• Open notional is capped per token and side (see Limits).
• When the token expires, open positions close at the last price with the normal fees.

Formulas

Symbols: $N$ position size (notional), $L$ leverage, $f$ trade fee rate, $p$ profit fee rate, $P_0$ entry price, $P$ current price, $m$ the mode's maintenance margin rate.

Margin, cost and fee

You type the size. The app works out the margin and the cost:

$$M = \frac{N}{L} \qquad A = \frac{M}{1 - f} = \frac{N}{L\,(1 - f)} \qquad F_{open} = A \cdot f$$

$A$ is the cost shown before you open. The open fee is charged on the cost, not on the position size: leverage does not multiply the fee.

Example: $N = 1{,}000$ at $L = 10$ and $f = 1\%$. Margin $M = 100$. Cost $A = 100 / 0.99 = 101.01$. Open fee $= 1.01$.

Liquidation price

The maintenance margin that applies to a position grows with leverage:

$$m_{eff} = \min\left(m \cdot \frac{L + 1}{2},\ 99.99\%\right)$$

The liquidation price sits a distance $d$ from entry:

$$d = \frac{1 - m_{eff}}{L} \qquad P_{liq}^{long} = P_0\,(1 - d) \qquad P_{liq}^{short} = P_0\,(1 + d)$$

Example: Fast mode, $m = 2.4\%$, $L = 10$, $P_0 = 1.00$.

• $m_{eff} = 2.4\% \times 11 / 2 = 13.2\%$.
• $d = (1 - 0.132) / 10 = 8.68\%$.
• Long: $P_{liq} = 1.00 \times (1 - 0.0868) = 0.9132$. Short: $P_{liq} = 1.00 \times 1.0868 = 1.0868$.

Mode	Max leverage	Mode rate m
Slow	125x	0.8%
Fast	40x	2.4%
Flash	15x	3.92%
Crack	5x	13.39%
Mayhem	5x	13.93%

Maintenance margin grows with leverage in production: Yes (as of 4 Nov 2026).

What the maintenance margin means

Your equity is margin plus profit or loss: $E = M + N\,s\,(P / P_0 - 1)$, with $s = +1$ for a long and $-1$ for a short. At the liquidation price the equity has fallen to

$$E_{liq} = m_{eff} \cdot M$$

So the maintenance margin is the part of your margin that is still there when the position is liquidated. You do not get it back. In the Fast 10x example, liquidation comes with $13.20 of the $100 margin left, and you receive $0.

Profit, fees and what you receive

$$\text{PnL} = N\,s\left(\frac{P}{P_0} - 1\right) \qquad V = \max(0,\ M + \text{PnL})$$ $$F_{close} = V \cdot f \qquad \Pi = V - A - F_{close} \qquad F_{profit} = \max(0,\ \Pi) \cdot p \qquad R = V - F_{close} - F_{profit}$$

$V$ is the close value, $R$ what comes back to your balance. Your net result is $R - A$. If the position is liquidated, $R = 0$.

Worked examples

Rates: $f = 1\%$, $p = 8\%$, maintenance margin scaling on.

1. Long that wins. Fast, 10x, size $1,000, entry $1.00, close at $1.10.

Step	Value
Margin, cost, open fee	$100.00, $101.01, $1.01
Liquidation price	$0.9132
PnL: $\$1{,}000 \times 0.10$	+$100.00
Close value $V$	$200.00
Close fee	$2.00
Profit: $\$200 - \$101.01 - \$2$	$96.99
Profit fee: $\$96.99 \times 8\%$	$7.76
You receive	$190.24
Net result	+$89.23 (+88.3% on the cost)

2. Long that loses. Same position, close at $0.95.

• PnL: $\$1{,}000 \times (-0.05) = -\$50.00$. Close value $50.00.
• Close fee $0.50. Profit is negative, so no profit fee.
• You receive $49.50. Net result: −$51.51.

3. Short that wins. Mayhem, 5x, size $250, entry $2.00, close at $1.80.

• Margin $50.00, cost $50.51.
• $m_{eff} = 13.93\% \times 6 / 2 = 41.79\%$. $d = (1 - 0.4179) / 5 = 11.642\%$. Liquidation price $\$2.00 \times 1.11642 = \$2.2328$.
• PnL: $\$250 \times (1 - 1.80 / 2.00) = +\$25.00$. Close value $75.00.
• Close fee $0.75. Profit $\$75 - \$50.51 - \$0.75 = \$23.74$. Profit fee $1.90.
• You receive $72.35. Net result: +$21.85.

4. Liquidation. Slow, 125x, size $2,500, entry $1.00. Cost $20.20.

• $m_{eff} = 0.8\% \times 126 / 2 = 50.4\%$. $d = (1 - 0.504) / 125 = 0.3968\%$. Liquidation price $0.996032.
• The price touches $0.995. The position is liquidated. You receive $0 and lose the $20.20 cost.
• At 125x a move of 0.4% against you ends the position. Compare example 1, where 10x survives a move of 8.68%.

Calculator

Synthetic liquidation price calculator

Speed modeSlow (max 125x)Fast (max 40x)Flash (max 15x)Crack (max 5x)Mayhem (max 5x)DirectionLong (price goes up)Short (price goes down)LeveragexPosition size$Entry price$Price at close$

Cost (margin + open fee)

$101.01

Margin

$100

Open fee1% of the cost

-$1.01

Maintenance margin at this leverageFast rate 2.4% × (10x + 1) / 2

13.2%

Liquidation price8.68% from entry

$0.9132

How it ends

Closed at this price

Close fee

-$2

Profit fee8% of profit

-$7.76

You receive

$190.24

Net result

$89.23 (88.34%)

Uses the live mode settings and fee rates. The app shows the same liquidation price before you confirm; if the two differ, the app is right. A position is liquidated as soon as the price touches the liquidation price, even if it comes back later.

Limits

Mode	Max open spot	Max open long (leverage)	Max open short
Slow	$20,000	$20,000	$20,000
Fast	$20,000	$20,000	$20,000
Flash	$20,000	$20,000	$20,000
Crack	$20,000	$20,000	$20,000
Mayhem	$20,000	$20,000	$20,000

• The caps are on position size (notional), and count all your open positions on the same token, side and type. A new position is rejected with "Maximum notional limit exceeded" if it would take the total over the cap.
• At 10x, a $20,000 cap is reached with a cost of $\$20{,}000 / (10 \times 0.99) = \$2{,}020.20$.
• The smallest trade is a cost of $0.10.
• Fees: 1% to open, the same to close, 8% of profit. Details on Fees.

Edge cases

• The price jumps past the liquidation price. The position is liquidated at that tick. The result is the same: you receive $0, never less. You cannot lose more than the cost.
• 1x long. No liquidation price. It behaves like a spot position, but it pays the leverage fee rates.
• Close value of 0. If losses use up the whole margin before liquidation is triggered, nothing is charged at close and you receive $0.
• Token expiry. Positions are closed at the last price, with close fee and profit fee, and never liquidated by the expiry itself.
• Adding to a position. Each Long or Short opens a separate position with its own entry and liquidation price.

FAQ

Is my liquidation price fixed? Yes. It is set from your entry price when the position opens and does not move.

Why does higher leverage bring liquidation closer than $\tfrac{1}{L}$? Because the maintenance margin grows with leverage, see the formula above.

Can I add margin to a position? No. Open a new position instead.