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Margin calculator
How much of your balance a position locks up, and how much is left to absorb the trade going against you. The step most calculators skip is which currency the contract is denominated in — on a currency pair it is the base currency, and skipping it puts the answer out by exactly the current price.
The formula
Currency pair: margin = (lots × contract size) ÷ leverage, in the base currency
Everything else: margin = (lots × contract size × price) ÷ leverage, in the quote currency
then convert that figure into your account currency
- Contract size — units per 1.00 lot. 100,000 for standard forex; 100 ounces for gold; varies for indices and crypto, so check your specification.
- Leverage — the second number of "1:100". Capped by regulation in some jurisdictions and by the broker everywhere else.
- Base currency — the first of the pair. One lot of EUR/USD is 100,000 EUR; one lot of USD/JPY is 100,000 USD.
The two lines are genuinely different, and that is the point of separating them. A pair is a quantity of the base currency, so its contract value does not move when the price does — only the conversion into your account does. Gold is priced in dollars, so its contract value moves with every tick.
Worked: one lot of EUR/USD at 1:100, USD account
| Contract | 1.00 lot × 100,000 = 100,000 EUR |
| Margin, in the base currency | 100,000 ÷ 100 = 1,000.00 EUR |
| EUR → USD at 1.085 | 1,000.00 × 1.085 = 1,085.00 USD |
| Share of a 10,000 USD account | 10.85% |
| Free margin remaining | 8,915.00 USD |
Note what did not happen: the contract value was never multiplied by the price. 100,000 EUR is 100,000 EUR whether the pair trades at 1.05 or 1.15. The price entered once, at the end, to convert a EUR figure into a USD account.
The same lot at every common leverage
One lot, a 10,000 USD account. The right-hand pair of columns is gold, where the contract value does move with the price.
| Leverage | EUR/USD margin | of balance | Gold margin | of balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1:30 | 3,616.67 USD | 36.2% | 7,866.67 USD | 78.7% |
| 1:50 | 2,170.00 USD | 21.7% | 4,720.00 USD | 47.2% |
| 1:100 | 1,085.00 USD | 10.8% | 2,360.00 USD | 23.6% |
| 1:200 | 542.50 USD | 5.4% | 1,180.00 USD | 11.8% |
| 1:500 | 217.00 USD | 2.2% | 472.00 USD | 4.7% |
Read the gold column against the forex one. At 1:30, a single lot of gold needs more than 85% of a 10,000 account, which is another way of saying a 10,000 account cannot trade a full lot of gold under EU rules — not as a matter of prudence, as a matter of arithmetic.
Margin level, and the two numbers that end accounts
Margin is not a fee and it is not a loss. It is your own money, reclassified from free to used until you close. What matters is the ratio between them:
Margin level = (equity ÷ used margin) × 100%
- Equity — balance plus or minus the floating profit on everything open.
- Used margin — the total this calculator returns, summed across positions.
As a position moves against you, equity falls while used margin does not, so the level drops. Your broker sets two thresholds on it: a margin call, where you are warned, and a stop-out, where positions are closed for you whether you agree or not. 100% and 50% are common but they are not standards — they are in your terms of business and they differ between brokers and between account types.
A stop-out is not a stop-loss. A stop-loss is a level you chose. A stop-out is the broker liquidating the position with the largest loss, at whatever the market is doing at that moment, to protect itself. The order in which positions are closed is also the broker's choice, not yours.
What margin is actually for — and why it is not your risk
This is the most common misreading in retail trading, and it runs in both directions. Leverage decides how much margin a position ties up. It has no effect whatsoever on how much you lose per pip — that is position size and stop distance, and nothing else.
Two accounts holding one lot of EUR/USD with a 20-pip stop lose the same $200 if it is hit, whether the account runs at 1:30 or 1:500. What the higher leverage changed is that the second account was permitted to open the position with less money set aside. The danger is in accepting that permission, not in having it.
The useful way to hold both ideas at once: use the position size calculator to decide how big the trade should be, and this one only to check that your broker will let you hold it. If margin is what is limiting your size rather than risk, the position was already too big.
Questions
Is margin a cost?
No. It is your own money, moved from “free” to “used” for as long as the position is open, and returned in full when you close. Nobody charges you for it. What it costs you is optionality: money held as margin cannot be used for another position, and it cannot absorb a loss on the one it is holding.
What is the difference between a margin call and a stop-out?
A margin call is a warning — your margin level has fallen to a threshold the broker sets, often 100%, and you are told to add funds or reduce exposure. A stop-out is the broker closing your positions for you, usually at a lower level such as 50%, without asking. Both numbers are in your broker’s terms and they vary widely, so read yours rather than assuming the common values.
Why is the margin on EUR/USD not 1,000 dollars at 1:100?
Because one lot of EUR/USD is 100,000 EUR, not 100,000 dollars. The margin is 1,000 EUR, and 1,000 EUR converted to a USD account at 1.0850 is 1,085 USD. Every currency pair works this way: the contract is a quantity of the base currency, and the base currency is the first one in the pair. It is the single most common mistake in margin arithmetic.
Does higher leverage mean higher risk?
Not directly, and the conflation causes real harm. Leverage sets how much margin a position ties up; it has no effect at all on how much you lose per pip. What actually decides your risk is position size and stop distance. Higher leverage is dangerous only because it permits a larger position than a smaller one would — the danger is in taking that permission, not in having it.
Your statement shows the sizes you actually traded
Position sizing is one of the few things a statement records exactly, and comparing the lots you took against the risk you intended is usually the fastest way to find where a plan slipped. Drop the file on TapeSheet and it is on screen in seconds. Free, no signup, and the file never leaves your device.
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