Stop-loss calculator — price, size and the liquidation check
Set the stop by price, by percentage or by ATR. The calculator turns it into dollar risk, position size, margin at your leverage and the distance to liquidation — and tells you when the stop is decoration because the exchange would close you first.
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How the stop-loss calculator works
Three inputs decide everything: how much you are willing to lose (account × risk %), where the trade is wrong (the stop), and the price you enter at. The distance between entry and stop, in dollars per unit, divided into the dollar risk is the position size. Leverage never changes that size — it only changes how much margin the exchange holds against it, and where liquidation sits.
Worked example with the defaults: a $5,000 account risking 1% is $50 of risk. Entry $60,000, stop $58,800 is a $1,200 distance (2%), so the position is 50 ÷ 1,200 = 0.0417 BTC, about $2,500 notional. At 1× that needs $2,500 of margin; at 10× only $250 — and the liquidation price moves to roughly 9.5% below entry, still well behind the 2% stop, which is what you want.
Price, percentage or ATR — which stop?
Price is the honest default: the stop goes where the idea fails, read from the chart (support and resistance, the last higher low). Percentage is a shortcut that ignores the chart; it is fine for a rule-of-thumb check and wrong for the actual order. ATR scales the stop to the timeframe’s normal noise — 1.5–2 × ATR keeps you out of the wick that hits every tight stop before the move.
Why the liquidation check matters
On isolated margin the exchange liquidates when the loss reaches your margin minus the maintenance requirement, which for most large pairs is around 0.5% of notional at low tiers. The distance is roughly 1 ÷ leverage − 0.5%: at 20× that is about 4.5%, at 50× about 1.5%. If your stop is further away than that, the stop never fires — the liquidation engine exits first, with a fee, at the mark price. The calculator flags it; the liquidation price calculator has the full tier maths.
Questions people ask
How do I calculate a stop-loss?
Decide the risk first — a fixed slice of the account, usually 1% or less — then place the stop where the trade idea is wrong (below a swing low or support for a long, above it for a short). The distance from entry to stop, divided into the dollar risk, gives the position size. This calculator does that arithmetic in either direction.
What is a good stop-loss percentage for crypto?
There is no universal number. A stop is a distance to the level that invalidates the trade, not a percentage you like; on a 4-hour BTC chart that is often 1–3%, on an altcoin 5–10%, on a scalp 0.2–0.5%. Set the distance from the chart, then size the position so that distance equals your dollar risk.
What is an ATR stop?
The Average True Range is the average size of a candle over the last 14 bars (typically). A stop at 1.5–2 × ATR beyond the entry sits outside normal noise for that timeframe. Enter the ATR value from your charting platform and the multiplier; the calculator converts it to a price.
Why does the calculator warn about liquidation?
With leverage, the exchange closes your position when losses eat the maintenance margin — before your stop if the stop is further away than the liquidation distance (roughly 1 ÷ leverage minus the maintenance margin rate on isolated margin). A stop behind the liquidation price is decoration; the exchange will exit for you, at a worse price and with a fee.
Does the stop guarantee my loss?
No. A stop-loss becomes a market order when triggered, so in a fast market or thin book it fills with slippage. Use the slippage calculator to see how much a market order of your size actually moves the price right now.