What do I need to know about Leverage and Margin Mode?

General Terminology

Cross Margin: All positions with the same settlement currency share all available collateral in that cryptocurrency as maintenance Margin, unless stated otherwise. 

Isolated Margin: Margin is specifically assigned to an individual position and is restricted from being shared across any other positions.

Multi-Currency Margin: All assets in the account are available to be used as Margin across positions, regardless of settlement currency.

Hedge Mode: Users can hold positions in both long and short directions at the same time, for a given instrument. This is exchange-specific but generally the standard trading mode only allows positions in one direction at a time, per instrument.

BitMEX

• Cross or Isolated Margin mode can be set per instrument. 
• Cross Margin mode has a fixed Leverage value set by the exchange.
• All instruments are initially set to Cross Margin mode by default.
• Modifying Leverage or Margin mode for an instrument impacts any positions and orders associated with that instrument.
• Switching to Isolated Margin mode or changing Leverage on an isolated position will automatically adjust the Margin assigned to the position.

OKX

Unified Accounts have four possible account modes, set at an account level: Simple, Single-Currency Margin, Multi-Currency Margin and Portfolio Margin

• For Single-Currency Margin and Multi-Currency Margin account modes, Cross or Isolated Margin mode is set per position.
• In Multi-Currency Margin accounts, Cross Margin mode uses all assets in the account as Margin across positions, regardless of settlement currency.
• Margin mode cannot be modified on positions
• In standard buy/sell mode, Cross Margin Leverage and Isolated Margin Leverage can be set independently for a given instrument, and Leverage settings can be modified on positions.
• Multiple positions can be held on an instrument with different Margin and Leverage settings.
• OKX does not allow Leverage adjustments for positions in Isolated Margin mode if there are open orders in the given instrument.

Long/Short Position Mode (Hedge Mode) is also available: 

• Margin mode is set per position.
• In Isolated Margin mode, independent Leverage values can be set for long and short positions on a given instrument.
• In Cross Margin mode, the Leverage value is set at an instrument level for both long and short positions.
• Note: Sandwich only allows one Leverage value for each Margin mode, which is applied to both long and short positions in that mode, for a given instrument.

Deribit

• Only Cross Margin mode available.
• All positions with the same settlement currency share all available collateral in that cryptocurrency as maintenance Margin. 
• Effective Leverage for each position is calculated by dividing position size by the available collateral.

dYdX

• Only Cross Margin mode available.
• Collateral is held as USDC and all positions use all available collateral as maintenance Margin.
• Effective Leverage for each position is calculated by dividing position size by the available collateral.

Bybit

• Standard Accounts offer both Cross and Isolated Margin mode for Inverse and USDT-Margined derivatives, which is set per instrument. USDC-Margined derivatives are limited to Cross Margin mode.
• Unified Trading Accounts only allow Cross Margin mode for linear derivatives. Both Cross and Isolated Margin mode are available for inverse derivatives, which is set per instrument.
• For both Standard and Unified Trading Accounts, modifying Leverage or Margin mode for an instrument impacts any positions and orders associated with that instrument and will automatically adjust the Margin assigned to any positions.
• Hedge Mode: Long and short positions for a given instrument have the same Margin mode, either Cross or Isolated, but can have different Leverage values.
• Note: Sandwich only allows one Leverage value that is applied to both long and short positions for a given instrument.

Binance

Binance has two asset modes: Single-Asset mode and Multi-Assets mode. 

Single-Asset mode: Both Cross and Isolated Margin modes are supported and are set per instrument. Margin mode cannot be changed while there are any positions or open orders in the given instrument.

• In Cross Margin mode, Leverage can be increased or decreased on positions.
• In Isolated Margin mode, Leverage on positions can only be increased, not decreased.
• Changing Leverage on a position will automatically adjust the Margin assigned to the position.

Multi-Assets mode: Only Cross Margin mode is supported and all of your assets are used as collateral for positions regardless of the settlement currency.

In Hedge Mode, long and short positions in a given instrument have the same Margin mode and Leverage values. The Leverage modification rules regarding Margin mode still apply.