#数字货币市场洞察 How much leverage should you use for perpetual contracts? Most people are using it the wrong way

$CITY $1000LUNC $XNY

My DMs are blowing up again, with at least ten people a day asking the same question: what’s the right leverage for perpetual contracts? I’ve heard this question since 2018, in both bull and bear markets. Newbies step on landmines, and even old hands get wrecked.

Let me be blunt—leverage isn’t an ATM, it’s a double-edged sword. If you use it well, you can harvest profits; if you misuse it, you’ll bleed out fast.

The biggest lure of perpetual contracts is the “no expiry date.” As long as you don’t get liquidated, you can hold indefinitely. Sounds great, right? But that freedom is actually the biggest trap.

You can adjust your position anytime: add more when you’re winning, try to hold on when you’re losing. The moment you crank up the leverage, the illusion of amplified gains instantly takes over your brain, and risk gets thrown out the window.

A few days ago, a trader told me he always uses 30x to 50x leverage. I asked, why not just go straight to 100x? He replied, “That liquidates too fast, you don’t even have time to react.” I just laughed.

Using leverage is like walking a tightrope. 50x is a slow death, 100x is instant obliteration. The only difference is how many seconds the market gives you to run for your life.

Take BTC as an example: with 30x leverage, you can’t withstand a 16% swing; with 50x, you can only handle 10%; at 100x, it shrinks to 5%. 1x leverage is steady as a rock but painfully slow to make money; 100x is as fierce as a tiger, but without stop-losses and discipline, your account goes to zero in a blink.

What truly liquidates you isn’t high leverage itself, but blindly adding to your position and running out of margin. Trying to use a few hundred USDT to leverage gains on tens of thousands—one small market shake and you’re forcibly closed out.

The most ironic thing isn’t calling the market wrong, but getting the trend right, yet still getting wiped out by a normal pullback because you went too heavy on leverage—then watching the price move exactly as you predicted, but you’re already out.

Remember this: the biggest danger with perpetuals isn’t high leverage, it’s having no buffer in your account. Your margin must be able to withstand normal price fluctuations—that’s the bottom line for survival.

Three iron rules you must engrave in your mind:

First, always use isolated margin mode. Using cross margin is like tying your entire net worth to a powder keg.

Second, always set your stop-loss in advance. The moment you start holding onto your position, the countdown to liquidation has already begun.

Third, don’t be greedy with your profit targets. With a $5,000 principal, earning a steady $50 to $100 per day and compounding it is far better than going all-in for a single bet.

Leverage doesn’t amplify the market itself—it amplifies your greed and lack of discipline.

A 100x position with proper risk control is ten thousand times safer than a 5x position where you stubbornly hold on.

Perpetual contracts aren’t about who’s the boldest—they’re about who survives the longest. Only those who make it through get to leave the game smiling.