How liquidation prices are set
A position is liquidated when its margin falls below the maintenance requirement. The requirement is not a universal number — it is derived from the maximum leverage of the specific market.
The maintenance margin formula
Maintenance margin is half the initial margin at the market maximum leverage: 1 / (2 × maxLeverage). A market allowing 40× requires 1.25 %; a market allowing 3× requires 16.7 %.
Most third-party calculators apply a flat rate across all markets, which produces a liquidation price that can be wrong by several percent on the markets where it matters most.
Cross versus isolated
An isolated position is backed only by the margin assigned to it, so its liquidation price is fixed at open. A cross position is backed by the whole account, so its liquidation price moves as every other position moves.
On a cross account, a loss on an unrelated market can liquidate a position that never moved against you.
Why the stop must come first
If the liquidation price sits between your entry and your stop, the stop never executes. The exchange closes the position first, at a worse price, with a liquidation penalty.
Raising leverage moves the liquidation price toward the entry. That mechanism, rather than a wrong directional call, is what ends most accounts.