Cross vs Isolated Margin

Cross and isolated margin are two ways of deciding which of your funds backs a leveraged position. Under isolated margin, only the amount assigned to that position can be lost to it: if the position is liquidated, the loss stops at that allocation. Under cross margin, the whole balance of the account backs every open position, so a losing trade draws on funds that are not formally assigned to it. Cross margin makes liquidation less likely for any single position, because there is more to absorb an adverse move; it also makes the consequence larger, because one badly wrong position can consume the account. Isolated caps the damage per position and accepts that each will be liquidated sooner. Neither setting changes the size of the risk taken — only where the loss is allowed to reach.