- Deposit Margin: You deposit a portion of the total contract value as initial margin. This deposit - which is typically denominated in USDT on Injective - acts as collateral for the borrowed capital.
- Control a Larger Position: With your initial margin, you can control a futures contract with a much higher notional value. For example, if a Bitcoin futures contract is worth 10,000.
- Amplified Profits and Losses: Any price movement in the underlying asset will be magnified for your position. If the price moves in your favor, your profits will be multiplied compared to simply holding the underlying asset. Conversely, if the price moves against you, your losses will also be amplified, and your initial margin could be wiped out if the price falls too far.
- Volatility of the underlying asset: More volatile assets typically require higher margin amounts.
- Contract terms: Different futures contracts on the same asset may have different margin requirements.
- Exchange or clearinghouse: Each exchange or clearinghouse may set its own margin requirements.
- Liquidation: If the price of the underlying asset moves against you and your margin falls below a certain threshold (maintenance margin), your position will be liquidated to cover your losses. This means you could lose your entire initial margin deposit.
- Funding Rates: In some cases, you may also be charged funding rates, which are fees paid to maintain your leveraged position. These fees can vary depending on market conditions and can eat into your profits.
- Manage Your Risk: Always use stop-loss orders and other risk management tools to limit your potential losses when margin trading.
