Hyperliquid Liquidation Price and Margin Modes

Your Hyperliquid liquidation price is the mark price where your margin drops to the maintenance margin and Hyperliquid starts closing the position. Maintenance margin is half the initial margin at the market’s maximum leverage, which is 2% for ETH. In isolated margin, your leverage sets the liquidation price. In cross margin, your account value does.

The liquidation price on your screen is not fixed. It moves while the trade is open, and the margin mode you pick decides what moves it. On Nika you pick isolated or cross margin, depending on the market, so you decide how much of your money each trade can lose.

Disclosure: This guide is published by Nika, a non-custodial interface for spot and perpetual trading. It uses Hyperliquid’s own documentation to explain how liquidation and margin modes work.

The short answer

• Hyperliquid liquidates a position at the mark price, not the last traded price, once your margin falls below the maintenance margin.
• In isolated margin, each trade has its own margin, so the leverage you set decides where the liquidation price sits.
• In cross margin, all your cross trades share one pot, so your account value decides it and the leverage setting does not.

If you are new to perps, start with how a perp DEX works and come back for the numbers.

When does Hyperliquid liquidate a position?

A position is liquidated when the money backing it falls below what Hyperliquid calls the maintenance margin. Two numbers matter.

The two margin numbers that matter

Initial margin is what you put up to open the trade: position size times mark price, divided by your leverage. A $8,000 position at 5x needs $1,600.

Maintenance margin is the floor. On Hyperliquid it is half the initial margin at the market’s maximum leverage, not the leverage you picked (Hyperliquid: Liquidations). ETH allows up to 25x, so its initial margin at max is 4% and its maintenance margin is 2%. Whether you trade ETH at 3x or 20x, the floor is 2% of the position.

How much maintenance margin each market needs

BTC needs 1.25%, ETH 2%, SOL 2.5%, and markets capped at 10x need 5% (checked on 21 October 2026). Very large positions move into higher tiers with a lower maximum leverage and a higher floor. For ETH, that starts above $100 million in position value (Hyperliquid: Margin tiers).

Why the mark price matters, not the last trade

Hyperliquid’s mark price blends perp prices from other big exchanges with Hyperliquid’s own order book and updates about every 3 seconds. Hyperliquid uses it for margin, liquidations, take-profit and stop-loss triggers, and unrealized profit and loss (Hyperliquid: Robust price indices). A single wick on the order book does not liquidate you on its own. In a fast market, though, the mark price can sit some way from the last trade, so watch the mark price, not just the chart.

How to work out your liquidation price

Hyperliquid publishes the exact formula:

liq_price = price - side * margin_available / position_size / (1 - l * side)

Here is what each part means:

• price is your entry price.
• side is 1 for a long and -1 for a short.
• l is 1 divided by the maintenance leverage. For ETH that is 1 / 50 = 0.02, the same as the 2% maintenance margin.
• margin_available is your isolated margin minus the maintenance margin in isolated mode. In cross mode, it is your account value minus the maintenance margin.
• position_size is the number of coins, not the dollar value.

For very large positions, the margin tier at the liquidation price sets l.

If you hold one isolated position, the formula comes down to a quicker version:

• Long: entry x (1 - 1 / leverage) / (1 - l)
• Short: entry x (1 + 1 / leverage) / (1 + l)

Let’s run the numbers on one ETH trade

Say ETH is at $4,000. Its maximum leverage is 25x, so maintenance margin is 2% (checked on 21 October 2026). These examples leave out trading costs, funding, and slippage.

A 5x isolated long

You buy 2 ETH at $4,000, an $8,000 position.

• Margin: $8,000 / 5 = $1,600
• Maintenance margin: 2% x $8,000 = $160
• margin_available: $1,600 - $160 = $1,440
• Liquidation price: 4,000 - 1,440 / 2 / 0.98 = $3,265.31, an 18.4% drop

To check it, at $3,265.31 your margin is $1,600 + 2 x (3,265.31 - 4,000) = about $130.61. The maintenance margin at that price is 2% x 2 x 3,265.31 = about $130.61. The two match, which is exactly where Hyperliquid starts closing the trade.

5x leverage does not give you a 20% cushion. Maintenance margin takes part of it.

The same trade as a short

Short 2 ETH at $4,000 with the same $1,600 margin. The liquidation price is 4,000 + 1,440 / 2 / 1.02 = $4,705.88, a 17.6% rise.

What happens when you raise the leverage

Same 2 ETH long, isolated, different leverage:

• 5x: liquidated at $3,265.31, 18.4% away
• 10x: liquidated at $3,673.47, 8.2% away
• 20x: liquidated at $3,877.55, 3.1% away

Going from 5x to 20x takes the distance from about 18% to about 3%. In isolated margin, more leverage pulls your liquidation price closer.

What adding margin does

Add $400 to the 5x long, so its margin is $2,000. The liquidation price drops to $3,061.22, 23.5% away. In the Nika app you can add or remove margin on an isolated position after you open it. On strict isolated markets you can add margin but not take it out (Hyperliquid: Margining).

The same long in cross margin

Now open the same 2 ETH long in cross margin. Your cross account holds $5,000 and nothing else is open.

Nika accounts use Hyperliquid’s Unified account mode, so one USDC balance is shared by your spot trades and your cross margin positions (Hyperliquid: Account abstraction modes).

• margin_available: $5,000 - $160 = $4,840
• Liquidation price: 4,000 - 4,840 / 2 / 0.98 = $1,530.61, a 61.7% drop

The answer is the same at 2x or 10x. In cross margin, leverage only changes how much collateral is set aside for the trade, not the liquidation price. The catch is that if a cross position reaches a backstop liquidation, all your cross positions and all your cross margin go with it.

When another cross trade loses money

Now say you later open a second cross trade and close it at a $1,000 loss. Your account drops to $4,000, and the ETH liquidation price jumps to $2,040.82. In cross margin, every trade shares one pot, so a loss anywhere moves the line for everything else.

Once the trade is open, watch the live liquidation price, not your earlier estimate.

Isolated or cross: which should you pick?

Isolated margin gives one trade its own margin. Your leverage moves the liquidation price, you can add or remove margin, and if the trade is liquidated, you only lose that position and its margin. Your other trades are not touched.

Cross margin puts your cross trades in one shared pot. A profit on one trade can hold up another, and the leverage setting does not move the liquidation price. The downside is that a backstop liquidation can take every cross position and all your cross margin at once (Hyperliquid: Liquidations).

Isolated fits one standalone bet where you want to cap the loss. Cross fits several related trades that you manage together, with spare collateral behind them. On Hyperliquid itself, cross margin is the default.

Markets where you can’t take margin out

Some Hyperliquid markets are strict isolated. They work like isolated margin, but you cannot remove margin from an open position. Margin comes back to you as you close the trade.

Gold and other HIP-3 markets

HIP-3 markets are launched by builders, who set the price feed, the contract terms, and the leverage limits (Hyperliquid: HIP-3 builder-deployed perpetuals). On Nika, you trade HIP-3 markets, such as gold and other commodity perps, alongside the main Hyperliquid perps. A gold perp gives you price exposure, not gold itself. If you want to hold gold onchain instead, read how a gold token differs from a gold perp.

Why your liquidation price keeps moving

Five things move your liquidation price:

• The order book changes. The estimate you see before you trade can differ from the price after you open, because the fill depends on the book at that moment.
• Funding. Funding is paid every hour between longs and shorts, and each payment adds to or takes from your margin (Hyperliquid: Funding). See how funding works on perpetuals.
• Other cross trades. In cross margin, profit and loss on your other cross positions, plus any deposits or withdrawals, move it.
• Margin changes. In isolated margin, margin you add or remove moves it, and so does unrealized profit on that position.
• Size. A very large position can cross into a different margin tier.

What happens when the price gets there

First, the order book

When your margin falls below maintenance margin, Hyperliquid sends market orders to the order book for the whole position. If that closes enough of it to get you back above maintenance margin, you keep whatever collateral is left.

Big positions close in slices

For positions larger than 100,000 USDC, Hyperliquid sends only 20% of the position to the book at first. For the next 30 seconds, any further liquidation order covers the whole position.

The backstop

On Hyperliquid’s main perps, if your margin falls below two thirds of the maintenance margin and the order book has not closed the trade, Hyperliquid’s liquidator vault can take the position over. In a backstop liquidation you lose the maintenance margin. In isolated margin, only that position and its margin go. In cross margin, every cross position and all cross margin go (Hyperliquid: Liquidations).

How to stay away from your liquidation price

• Use less leverage in isolated margin, or add margin to the trade in the Nika app.
• Deposit USDC to your account if you trade in cross margin.
• Close part of the trade in the Nika app to cut the size the margin has to back.
• Set a stop loss with room before the liquidation price. A stop is a trigger, not a promise of a price, so in a fast move it can fill late or at a worse price.
• Size the trade so a normal day’s move in that market cannot reach your liquidation price.

For the bigger picture, read about the risks of trading with leverage.

Trading Hyperliquid perps on Nika

Nika is a non-custodial trading app where you can trade Hyperliquid perps with leverage of up to 50x and isolated or cross margin, both depending on the market, and trade HIP-3 markets such as gold. Nika provides access to Hyperliquid perps, and Hyperliquid’s market rules determine funding, margin requirements, and liquidation. Hyperliquid’s rules in this guide apply when you trade Hyperliquid perps on Nika.

The Nika app shows an estimated liquidation price before you confirm a trade, and a live liquidation price on open positions.

Getting started does not require setting up a separate wallet or writing down a seed phrase. You can create a Nika account with email, Google, or Apple, and Nika uses Privy for its embedded EVM and Solana wallets. Both wallets’ private keys are exportable, so you can use them in compatible external wallet software. Nika does not hold your private keys. Privy’s user help center explains how wallet access and export work. Protect your login methods and any key you export.

Your wallet and your trading collateral do different jobs. Once you deposit collateral to Hyperliquid, Hyperliquid’s margin, liquidation, and withdrawal rules apply to it. An exportable wallet does not remove those protocol risks. You can also read about a wallet only you control.

You can use Nika in your browser, or get the Nika app on iPhone and Android. To see everything else you can do in it, read how the Nika app works.

Frequently asked questions

Can I trade Hyperliquid perps on Nika with isolated or cross margin?

Yes. You can trade Hyperliquid perps on Nika with leverage of up to 50x depending on the market, and you pick isolated or cross margin, depending on the market.

How do I estimate my liquidation price before I trade?

Look up the market’s maintenance margin, which is half the initial margin at its maximum leverage, and plug it into Hyperliquid’s liquidation price formula. The Nika app also shows an estimated liquidation price before you confirm a trade.

Does changing leverage move my liquidation price on Hyperliquid?

In isolated margin, yes, because leverage sets how much margin the trade gets. In cross margin, no. Your account value sets it.

Why is my liquidation price different from yesterday?

Funding payments, profit or loss on other cross trades, and margin you add or remove all change it.

Does the last traded price trigger a liquidation on Hyperliquid?

No. Hyperliquid uses the mark price, which blends other exchanges’ prices with its own order book, so one wick on one venue does not liquidate you on its own.

Do I get anything back after a Hyperliquid liquidation?

If the order book closes your position, you keep what is left above maintenance margin. In a backstop liquidation, you lose the maintenance margin.

Will a stop loss always close my trade before liquidation?

No. A stop is a trigger, and in a fast move it can fill late or at a worse price, so leave room between your stop and your liquidation price.

Sources

1. Hyperliquid Docs: Liquidations
2. Hyperliquid Docs: Margining
3. Hyperliquid Docs: Margin tiers
4. Hyperliquid Docs: Robust price indices
5. Hyperliquid Docs: Funding
6. Hyperliquid Docs: HIP-3 builder-deployed perpetuals
7. Hyperliquid Docs: Account abstraction modes
8. Privy: User help center

Margin tiers, maximum leverage, and protocol documentation checked on 21 October 2026.

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