Pocket Polymath · Higher or Lower
Leverage, explained like you're about to use it
Every money-mode card has a second slider. It's the most dangerous control in the app and also the most misunderstood one in all of trading, so this post explains exactly what it does — the numbers on screen are the same ones used here.
The deal you're making
Your stake is your margin — money you put down. Leverage multiplies the position, not the stake: $10 at 5× controls a $50 position. Every move in the coin's price now counts five times over — a 2% rise pays you $1 instead of 20 cents, and a 2% fall costs the same.
The exchange lends you the difference, and it never loses on the loan — which is where liquidation comes in.
Liquidation: the loan being called
If the price moves against you far enough that your margin is nearly eaten, the exchange closes the position for you. That's a liquidation — not a punishment, just the loan being called. The rule of thumb: the liquidating move is roughly 100% divided by your leverage — about 19% against you at 5×, about 3.75% at 20× (a bit less in practice, since a maintenance buffer and fees come first). Crypto moves 3% in an afternoon without noticing, which is why high leverage on a long timer is how positions die before their alarm goes off.
Each card shows this before you swipe — “wiped out if the price moves ~19% against you” — and each open position on the dashboard shows the exchange's exact liquidation price.
Why your worst case is the stake, and only the stake
Every leveraged position here uses isolated margin: the position's losses can only draw on the margin you gave it, never the rest of your balance. A liquidation burns that one stake — your other positions and everything else in your account are untouchable. (The other mode, cross margin, backs every position with your whole account. We don't use it, on purpose.)
The details that matter
- Each coin has its own cap set by the exchange — around 40× on BTC, 25× on ETH, and just 3× on many smaller coins. The slider stops at the cap of the coin you're on.
- Leveraged positions pay funding— small periodic payments between longs and shorts. Pennies at these sizes, but it's why a position can drift slightly even in a flat market.
- One position per coin at a time: the exchange nets same-coin positions together, so the app keeps it to one so your tracking always matches the chain.
- The timer still only runs while the tab is open. A leveraged position left running with the app closed is exposed until you return — and can be liquidated before its timer if the move is big enough.
- 1× is always available and is a perfectly good way to play: your $10 simply rides the market, unliquidatable in any realistic move.
Educational content, not financial advice. Real leveraged derivatives risk real money.