Cross Margin

Cross margin is a method of allocating your trading collateral in which your entire account balance is shared across all of your open positions. It stands in contrast to “isolated margin,” where each position gets only a fixed slice of collateral you assign to it upfront. With cross margin, if one of your positions starts losing money, the exchange can automatically draw on funds from the rest of your account to prevent that position from being liquidated.

This sharing of collateral across positions is a double-edged sword. On the positive side, it makes it less likely that any single position gets liquidated prematurely during a temporary price spike, since your full account balance acts as a buffer. On the negative side, it means a single catastrophic losing trade can drain not just one portion of your capital but your entire account balance. Cross margin is generally considered more suitable for experienced traders managing multiple positions simultaneously with a clear view of their total risk exposure.

Example: Think of it like having one shared wallet for multiple ongoing bets with friends. If one bet goes bad, you can pull money from your total wallet to cover it — the others aren’t affected yet. With isolated margin, it’s more like separate envelopes for each bet, each sealed with a fixed amount inside. If one envelope runs out, that bet is over — but your other envelopes are safe. Cross margin gives you flexibility, but a really bad day on one trade can empty your whole wallet.