Isolated vs. Cross Margin: A Critical Choice for Crypto Traders

You're setting up a leveraged trade. You've chosen your asset, decided on your entry price, and selected your leverage. Then, just before you execute, you see it: a small but critical choice between "Isolated Margin" and "Cross Margin." This is not a minor setting to be ignored. The choice you make here will fundamentally change how the platform manages your risk and could be the difference between a small, contained loss and a catastrophic account wipeout. As your guide, let's break down exactly what this choice means so you can make the right decision for your strategy.

The Poker Table Analogy

To understand the difference, imagine you are at a poker table with your entire wallet of cash in your pocket.

• Isolated Margin is like taking a specific amount of cash—say, $100—out of your wallet, putting it on the table, and declaring, "This is all I am willing to risk on this one hand."
• Cross Margin is like putting your entire wallet on the table and declaring, "I will use any and all of the money in this wallet to keep all of my hands in the game."

Isolated Margin: Containing Your Risk

When you select Isolated Margin, you are assigning a specific amount of your capital (your margin) to one single position. That margin is completely walled off from your other positions and the rest of your account balance. If the trade goes against you and gets liquidated, the maximum you can possibly lose is the specific margin you assigned to that one trade. The rest of your account balance remains untouched. This makes it an incredibly powerful tool for risk management.

Cross Margin: Sharing Your Risk

When you select Cross Margin, you are using your entire available account balance as a shared pool of margin for all of your open positions. If one position starts to lose money and nears its liquidation price, the system will automatically draw more margin from your available balance to prevent that liquidation. The advantage is that it gives your trades more breathing room and can help you survive larger price swings. However, the danger is immense. A single, disastrously bad trade can act like a black hole, draining your entire account balance as it tries to save itself, potentially leading to the liquidation of not just that one position but your whole portfolio.

Which One Should You Use? A Clear Recommendation

The choice depends entirely on your experience and strategy. For the vast majority of traders, especially those who are not yet seasoned professionals, the answer is clear: Isolated Margin should be your default choice. It provides a built-in safety net that forces you to define your risk on a per-trade basis, preventing one bad decision from destroying your entire account. Cross Margin is a tool for highly advanced traders, market makers, or those running sophisticated, multi-position strategies where different trades are designed to hedge one another. It requires constant monitoring and is far less forgiving. Before placing any leveraged trade, it is essential to understand all the core concepts and risks, as detailed in our main guide: [Leverage Trading in Crypto: A Guide to the Double--Edged Sword].

Trade with control and intention. Utilize the flexibility of both Isolated and Cross Margin modes on BYDFi to execute your strategy with the precise level of risk you are comfortable with.

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