Liquidation price is arithmetic — here is the formula
Liquidation is a margin equation, not a punishment.
For an isolated-margin long: liq_price ≈ entry × (1 − 1/leverage + maintenance_margin_rate)
At 10x with a 0.5% maintenance margin, you are liquidated around 9.5% below entry. At 25x, around 3.5%. At 50x, around 1.5% — which is inside the normal hourly range of most large caps, meaning a 50x position is a coin flip against noise, independent of your thesis.
Three practical consequences:
Your stop must sit inside your liquidation distance, always. If your stop is wider than your
liquidation, the exchange is your stop-loss, and it charges more.
Position size, not leverage, is the real risk control. 5x on 20% of equity and 20x on 5% of
equity carry the same notional but wildly different liquidation distances.
Cross vs isolated changes what gets destroyed. Cross uses your whole balance as margin, so it
liquidates later but takes everything when it does.
Size so that liquidation is unreachable by ordinary volatility, then let the stop do its job.