Position Size Calculator for Crypto and Futures
How big can this trade be so a stop costs a dollar amount you already chose?
Long or short
Risk this trade as
Stop
Guide
How to calculate crypto position size
It converts three numbers into a trade: how large the account is, how many dollars you can lose on this idea, and how far the stop sits from entry. You get a dollar size and a coin quantity. It is for people who already have a stop, not for people hunting a leverage multiple.
A position size calculator turns account, risk, and stop distance into a trade. Position value is dollars at risk divided by the stop as a decimal. On a $10,000 account, 1% risk is $100. A 2% stop means $100 ÷ 0.02 = $5,000 of Bitcoin, or 0.10 BTC at a $50,000 entry. Leverage does not change that $100. It only changes how much cash you post as margin. A 10× account still loses about $100 if the stop is the same. What leverage does change is liquidation: at high multiples the venue can close you before the stop. Size the trade from risk and the stop first, then check liquidation on a separate calculator. This page does not pull a live Bitcoin price. You type the entry you actually have.
Example
Position size example: $10,000 account, 1% risk
Match this on the sliders: $10,000 account, 1% risk, Bitcoin around $50,000, 2% stop. The stop sits at $49,000. If it hits, you lose about $100, not $5,000. The $5,000 is the size of the trade, not the size of the loss.
- Account
- $10,000
- At risk
- $100
- Stop
- $49,000
- Trade size
- $5,000
- Quantity
- 0.10 BTC
- If 10×
- $500 margin
A tighter stop is not safer here. A 1% stop on the same $100 risk would double the trade to $10,000. The loss is still $100. The wick is twice as likely to tag you.
| Step | In words | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dollars at risk | Account × risk % | $10,000 × 1% = $100 |
| 2. Trade size | Risk $ ÷ stop % | $100 ÷ 2% = $5,000 |
| 3. Coin quantity | Trade size ÷ entry | $5,000 ÷ $50,000 = 0.10 BTC |
| 4. Margin posted | Trade size ÷ leverage | $5,000 ÷ 1× = $5,000 |
Shorts
How to calculate position size on a short
You have $8,000 and will risk 1% ($80) shorting ETH at $3,200 with a 3% stop. The stop sits at $3,296. Trade size is $80 ÷ 0.03 = $2,667, or about 0.83 ETH. If ETH rips through the stop, you are out $80 plus fees — not the whole account — unless leverage puts liquidation in front of that stop.
Leverage
Why leverage is not a stop loss
Leverage only changes the cash you post. Run 20× on a $4,000 Bitcoin trade and margin is $200. A 2% stop still risks about $80. Liquidation on many venues sits near 1/leverage minus a small cushion — roughly 5% away, sometimes closer. If your stop is 6% away, the venue closes the trade first. Check liquidation after you size, not instead of sizing.
Limits
What this position size calculator cannot do
- It will not pick a coin, a direction, or a “safe” risk percent.
- It will not pull a live price.
- It will not model five correlated 1% longs dumping together — that is not 1%.
- It will not place a stop for you. A stop beyond liquidation is a wish.
If you use more than about 3×, open the liquidation calculator next. If you want a second opinion on how large a fraction to risk, use Kelly as a ceiling, not as an order ticket.
Keep going
Same toolkit, a different question — pick the next calculator.
FAQ
Questions people ask
It turns your account, how much you can lose, and the distance to your stop into a trade size. One stop then costs a dollar amount you already chose. It is not a leverage picker.
Dollars at risk come first. Trade size is that amount divided by the stop as a decimal. Quantity is trade size divided by entry. On a $10,000 account, 1% risk and a 2% stop is $5,000 of coin, or 0.10 Bitcoin at $50,000.
Not if the stop stays the same. Leverage only changes how much margin you post. A 2% stop on a $5,000 trade still risks about $100 at 1× or 10×. High leverage can liquidate you before the stop.
Many people cap one idea at 0.5% to 1% of the account. Two percent is aggressive once several trades can lose together. This page does not pick the percent for you.
Use the exact-price switch. Or convert: the gap between entry and stop, divided by entry, times 100. A $1,000 stop on a $50,000 entry is 2%.
A tighter stop lets the formula size you up. The dollar loss stays the same, and a noisy wick is more likely to tag you. Safer is a smaller risk amount, not a closer stop with a bigger position.
No. Their $500 risk on a $50,000 account is 1%. The same $500 on a $5,000 account is 10%. Size from your account and your stop.
No. You type the entry you actually have, or the one you are about to use. A live widget can be old or from a different venue.