MEXC Futures Liquidation FAQ: Triggers, Liquidation Price and Maintenance Margin

Liquidation on MEXC futures happens when a position's maintenance margin rate (MMR) reaches 100%, measured using the fair price rather than the last traded price.

This FAQ explains what triggers liquidation, how the process runs step by step, how the liquidation price is calculated in isolated and cross margin, and how leverage and position size change it.

New to futures? Start with our crypto futures guide for beginners.

Key Takeaways:

• MEXC liquidates a position when its maintenance margin rate reaches 100%, using the fair price as the trigger.
• Liquidation is tiered: open orders are canceled first, then larger positions are reduced tier by tier before any full takeover.
• In isolated margin, the liquidation price depends on that position's margin; in cross margin, it depends on the whole account balance.
• Maintenance margin rates rise with position size, set by the risk-limit tiers of each contract.
• The liquidation price triggers liquidation; the takeover (bankruptcy) price is where the position's margin is fully used up.

What Is Liquidation?

Liquidation, also called forced closure, is when MEXC automatically closes a futures position because its margin no longer covers the minimum requirement.

The maintenance margin rate (MMR) is the main measure of a position's risk, and when it reaches 100% or more, the system liquidates the position.

What Triggers Liquidation on MEXC?

MEXC triggers liquidation with the fair price, not the last traded price, to reduce liquidations caused by abnormal price swings on a single platform.

The fair price and its explanation are shown at the top of the futures trading page.

On the candlestick chart, you can switch between the fair price, the last price and the index price.

3. How Does the Liquidation Process Work?

MEXC liquidates in stages based on the position's risk-limit tier, so a large position is not necessarily closed all at once.

• Order cancellation: in cross margin, all open orders on the account are canceled; in isolated margin with auto-margin addition on, all open orders for that contract are canceled. If the MMR is still 100% or more, the process continues.
• Long-short self-trading (cross margin only): if long and short positions on the same contract coexist, the system reduces them against each other. If the MMR is still 100% or more, the process continues.
• Tiered liquidation: if the position is above the lowest tier, part of it is liquidated at the bankruptcy price to bring it down a tier, and the MMR is recalculated; this repeats until the MMR is below 100% or the lowest tier is reached.
• Full liquidation: if the position is in the lowest tier and the MMR is still 100% or more, the liquidation engine takes over the remaining position at the bankruptcy price.

Liquidations go through the liquidation engine rather than the matching engine, so they do not appear in the trade records or on the price chart.

If the taken-over position can be closed at a better price than the bankruptcy price, the remaining margin goes to the insurance fund; if not, the insurance fund covers the shortfall, and if the fund is not enough, auto-deleveraging (ADL) applies.

The Futures Insurance Fund absorbs liquidation shortfalls for the futures market as a whole and does not cover traders' own losses.

How to View Liquidation Orders

Liquidated orders appear under Position History, on the app and the website.

In the app, method 1: tap Futures at the bottom of the screen, tap the order icon next to Positions and Open Orders, then open Position History.

In the app, method 2: tap Wallets, select the Futures tab, tap the order icon on the right, then open Position History.

On the web, log in, open Orders at the top right and choose Futures Orders.

Then open the Position History tab, where a liquidated position shows Liquidated in the Status column.

What Are Maintenance Margin and the Maintenance Margin Rate?

Maintenance margin is the minimum margin a position must keep to stay open, and the maintenance margin rate (MMR) measures how close the position is to that minimum.

Maintenance Margin Rate (MMR)

MMR = (Maintenance Margin + Liquidation Fee) ÷ (Position Margin + Unrealized PNL).

• Below 100%: the position still has a buffer above the minimum.
• Exactly 100%: the position just meets the minimum requirement, and liquidation is triggered.
• Above 100%: the position has fallen below the minimum, and liquidation proceeds.

Why Does Maintenance Margin Exist?

Maintenance margin is the minimum needed to keep a position open, and if the margin falls below it, the position is liquidated in full or in part.

• USDT-M: Maintenance Margin = Average Entry Price × Cont. × Size × Maintenance Margin Rate.
• Coin-M: Maintenance Margin = (Size × Cont. ÷ Average Entry Price) × Maintenance Margin Rate.

Larger positions carry a higher maintenance margin rate, so they lock more margin and have less room before liquidation.

What Sets the Maintenance Margin Rate?

The maintenance margin rate depends on position size, not leverage: each contract splits position sizes into risk-limit tiers, and larger tiers have higher rates.

Each contract's tiers and rates are listed on the MEXC risk limit page.

At a 1% rate on a position with 100 USDT of margin, 1 USDT is the maintenance margin, so liquidation is reached when the unrealized loss hits about 99 USDT, before the full 100 USDT is lost.

In abnormal markets, MEXC may adjust maximum leverage, tier position limits or tier maintenance margin rates.

How Is the Liquidation Price Calculated?

The liquidation price is the fair price at which the MMR would reach 100%, and the formula depends on whether the position uses isolated or cross margin.

Isolated Margin Mode

Liquidation occurs when Position Margin + Unrealized PNL ≤ Maintenance Margin + Liquidation Fee; the examples below leave out the liquidation fee.

• Long: (Maintenance Margin − Position Margin + Average Entry Price × Cont. × Size) ÷ (Cont. × Size)
• Short: (Average Entry Price × Cont. × Size − Maintenance Margin + Position Margin) ÷ (Cont. × Size)

Example: a long of 10,000 cont. of BTCUSDT (0.0001 BTC each) at an average entry of 8,000 USDT, 25x leverage, in Tier 1 with a 0.40% rate: maintenance margin = 8,000 × 10,000 × 0.0001 × 0.40% = 32 USDT, position margin = 8,000 × 10,000 × 0.0001 ÷ 25 = 320 USDT, and liquidation price = (32 − 320 + 8,000) ÷ 1 = 7,712 USDT.

Adding margin to an isolated position widens the gap between the liquidation price and the entry price.

Cross Margin Mode

In cross margin, liquidation occurs when cross-margin equity, excluding isolated positions and all order margin, falls to the cross-margin maintenance margin plus the liquidation fee.

Formula: (Average Short Entry Price × Short Cont. × Size − Average Long Entry Price × Long Cont. × Size − Cross Maintenance Margin + (Wallet Balance − Isolated Position Margin − Order Margin + Unrealized PNL of other cross positions)) ÷ (Short Cont. × Size − Long Cont. × Size).

Example: the same long with a 500 USDT wallet balance, no other positions and no open orders: cross maintenance margin = 32 USDT, and liquidation price = (0 − 8,000 − 32 + 500) ÷ (0 − 1) = 7,532 USDT.

In cross margin, the liquidation price can move at any time, because the margin pool is shared and other positions' profit and loss affect it; long and short cross positions on the same contract share one liquidation price.

Is the Liquidation Price the Same as the Takeover Price?

No: the liquidation price is the trigger, while the takeover (bankruptcy) price is the price at which all the margin in the position would be used up.

Position History and Share My PNL show the takeover price as the average close price.

When the fair price reached 194.59 USDT, the position was liquidated and taken over at 194.14 USDT.

In the app, tapping Liquidation Details on a liquidated position in Position History shows both prices.

Why Isn't the Takeover Price Shown on the Candlestick Chart?

The takeover happens in the liquidation engine, outside the matching engine, so the takeover price may not appear on the chart.

Any remaining margin goes to the insurance fund, which also covers negative equity, a design meant to reduce the need for auto-deleveraging in extreme volatility.

How Do Leverage and Position Size Affect the Liquidation Price?

Leverage sets which risk-limit tiers you can use and, in isolated margin, how close the liquidation price sits to the entry price, while position size sets the maintenance margin rate.

The tiers above are an illustrative BTCUSDT example; the current values for every contract are on the risk limit page.

Leverage Determines the Maximum Position Size

At 200x leverage, only Tier 1 is available, so the maximum position, including pending opening orders, is 525,000 cont.

At 50x leverage, Tiers 1 to 4 are available, because Tier 4 allows up to 58x and Tier 5 only 47x, so the maximum is 2,100,000 cont.

In isolated margin, higher leverage with no added margin moves the liquidation price closer to the entry price, while in cross margin the liquidation price depends on the account balance and the value of open positions.

With 10 USDT in a cross account and a 10 USDT position at 10x, only 1 USDT is locked as initial margin, but the whole 10 USDT backs the position, so the effective leverage is 10 ÷ 10 = 1.

Maintenance Margin Rate by Position Size

Using the tiers above, a trader who opens 400,000 cont. of BTCUSDT at 50x is in Tier 1, with a 0.40% maintenance margin rate.

Adding 200,000 cont. takes the position to 600,000 cont., which is in Tier 2, with a 0.80% rate.

If liquidation is then triggered, tiered liquidation first closes the 75,000 cont. above 525,000, which returns the position to Tier 1 and its 0.40% rate.

The system then reassesses the remaining 525,000 cont., which is kept if its MMR is below 100% and liquidated further if not.

Why Is the Liquidated Position Value in USDT Different From the Opening Value?

When the order unit is set to USDT rather than quantity or cont., the liquidated amount in Position History differs from the opening amount because the coin quantity stays the same while its price changes.

The liquidated value is the quantity times the average execution price, so it rarely matches the original position value.

The unit is set in Futures Unit Settings, under Order by Quantity (BTC, USDT or Cont) or Order by Cost (USDT).

What Changes Your Liquidation Risk?

Your liquidation risk changes with your margin, your leverage and your position size, and MEXC offers tools that act on each.

Adding Margin or Lowering Leverage

In isolated margin, adding margin raises the position margin in the liquidation formula, which moves the liquidation price further from the market price.

In the example in 6.1, the same position opened at 20x instead of 25x would have 400 USDT of margin, and its liquidation price would fall from 7,712 to 7,632 USDT.

Reducing the position size can also move it into a lower tier with a lower maintenance margin rate.

Stop-Loss Orders

A stop-loss order closes a position at market when its trigger price is reached, which can limit losses before the liquidation price is hit.

It does not guarantee the execution price: in extreme volatility it can fail to trigger or fill at a worse price, and it needs enough closable quantity.

How to set one on web and app is covered in setting take-profit and stop-loss on MEXC futures.

Liquidation Alerts

In Futures Preferences, under Notifications & Alerts, you can turn on Liquidation Alert and set a margin ratio threshold, and MEXC alerts you when a position's MMR reaches or exceeds it, at most once per position every 30 minutes.

More background is in the guide how to prevent liquidation in futures trading.

Check MEXC Risk Limits

Summary

• MEXC liquidates a futures position when its maintenance margin rate reaches 100%, using the fair price as the trigger.
• The liquidation price depends on the margin mode: one position's margin in isolated mode, the whole account in cross mode.
• Position size sets the maintenance margin rate through risk-limit tiers, and leverage sets which tiers you can reach.

Related Articles

• Crypto Futures Trading for Beginners: Complete Guide & Strategies
• How to Use the MEXC Futures Calculator: PnL, Target Price, Liquidation and Stop-Loss
• How to Set Take-Profit and Stop-Loss on MEXC Futures (Web and App)
• What Is Liquidation? A Complete Guide to Its Mechanism, Price Calculation, and Risk Management
• What Is Margin? Who's Moving My Margin? Understanding Margin in MEXC Futures Trading
• A must-read for beginners! How to prevent liquidation in futures trading?

Trading crypto assets is high-risk; prices can be highly volatile and you may lose everything you put in. No security measure removes all risk, and MEXC does not promise principal protection or absolute security. This article is not investment advice.