Tiered Margin Structure and Fee Calculation: How Position Size Affects Your Margin
On Gold (XAUUSDT) Perpetual Contracts, the larger your position, the lower the maximum leverage you can use and the more margin you must hold.
What the tiered margin structure is
Gold Perpetual Contracts use a tiered margin mechanism. The bigger your position, the higher the Maintenance Margin Rate that applies to it. This is how the platform controls its overall risk.
The platform groups position sizes into tiers, which it calls a Risk Limit. Each tier sets its own margin requirements, based on your position size.
Key terms used in this article:
- - Perpetual Contract: a derivative contract that does not have a fixed expiry date.
- - Notional Value (Notional Position Value): the total value of a position, measured in US dollars ($). The article’s tiers are based on this value, not on the margin you post.
- - Leverage: a multiplier that lets you control a position larger than the margin you put up. For example, 100x leverage means you control a position worth up to 100 times your margin.
- - Initial Margin (IM): the amount of margin you must put up to open a position.
- - Initial Margin Rate: the share of the position’s Notional Value that must be posted as Initial Margin. In the table below, each tier’s Initial Margin Rate equals 1 divided by its Maximum Leverage (for example, 100x gives 1%).
- - Maintenance Margin (MM): the minimum margin that must stay in place to keep a position open.
- - Maintenance Margin Rate (MMR): the share of the position’s Notional Value that the Maintenance Margin must cover. A position that falls below its required Maintenance Margin is at risk of liquidation.
- - USD: US dollars. The article’s amounts are written with the $ sign; see Reviewer notes.
In short: the larger your position, the lower your available leverage and the more margin you need.
Tier table for the Gold XAUUSDT Perpetual Contract
The table below shows the tiers from the source article. Each row shows the range of Notional Position Value that the tier covers, along with the leverage and margin rates that apply.
| Tier | Maximum Notional Position Value | Maximum Leverage | Initial Margin Rate | Maintenance Margin Rate (MMR) |
| Tier 1 | [0, $500,000) | 100x | 1% | 0.50% |
| Tier 2 | [$500,000 – $1,000,000) | 50x | 2% | 1% |
| Tier 3 | [$1,000,000 – $2,000,000) | 25x | 4% | 2% |
| Tier 4 | [$2,000,000 and above) | 10x | 10% | 5% |
The brackets follow standard interval notation: a square bracket [ includes the value next to it, and a round bracket ) excludes it. For example, Tier 1 covers position values from $0 up to, but not including, $500,000.
These values are for illustration only. Actual parameters are subject to real-time platform announcements.
How your tier is determined
- - The platform sets your position limit based on your current risk tier.
- - Your position limit is the sum of your current open position quantity and your current open order quantity. It cannot exceed the maximum amount allowed for your current tier.
- - The system determines your tier automatically, based on your leverage.
How changing leverage affects your margin
After you change leverage, your margin changes as well. The change is calculated as follows:
Margin Change = New Position Initial Margin − Old Position Initial Margin
- - Reducing leverage increases the margin your position occupies.
- - Increasing leverage releases margin back to your available balance, but it also increases your liquidation risk. For how liquidation prices are calculated, see How to Calculate the Liquidation Price of a Perpetual Contract.
Related articles
- Fees for Perpetual Contracts: Perpetual Contract Fees. This article does not itself describe fees; see Reviewer notes.
- Opening cost of a position: How to Calculate the Opening Cost of a Perpetual Contract.