I was woken up in the middle of the night by a barrage of nonstop calls, my screen filled with voice messages. When I played them, I could hear my old friend's voice trembling:

"Bro, help me! I went all-in with 10x leverage on my entire 10,000 USDT. The market only pulled back 3% and my account got liquidated instantly? What the hell is this?"

I switched to his trading interface—9,500 USDT all-in, no stop loss in sight.

A lot of people think cross margin mode = higher risk tolerance, but using it the wrong way can be even more deadly than isolated margin.

**The truth about cross margin liquidation: It’s not leverage that kills you, it’s your position sizing**

Let’s use $1,000 as an example:

- If you open a 10x leveraged position with $900, a 5% move against you wipes you out instantly.
- If you open a 10x leveraged position with $100, it would take a 50% move against you to get liquidated.

My friend dumped 95% of his capital in, added 10x leverage, and just a small pullback wiped him out completely.

**My Three Iron Rules: The Secret to Zero Liquidations and Doubling My Account in Six Months**

**Rule 1: Never risk more than 20% of your capital in a single trade**

If your account has $10,000, invest a maximum of $2,000 per trade. Even if you make a bad call and stop out at a 10% loss, you’re only down $200—your main capital is untouched and you always have the chance to bounce back.

**Rule 2: Strictly limit each loss to within 3% of total capital**

For example, if you use $2,000 at 10x leverage, set a stop loss at 1.5%. If triggered, you lose $300, exactly 3% of your total funds. Even if you get several trades wrong in a row, your account can still survive.

**Rule 3: Stay out during sideways markets and never add to winning positions**

Only trade when there’s a clear trend breakout. No matter how tempting a ranging market looks, stay on the sidelines. After entering a position, never add more—avoid emotional trading at all costs.

**The Right Way to Use Cross Margin: It’s a buffer, not a gambling table**

The original intent of cross margin is to provide a buffer for price fluctuations. But the prerequisite is small position sizing plus ironclad risk management.

I knew a trader who used to blow up his account every month and kept recharging. After strictly following these three rules, he grew his account from $5,000 to $8,000 in three months.

He later told me, "I used to treat cross margin like a tool for gambling my life away. Now I understand it’s actually there to help me survive more steadily."

In this market, it’s never about who makes money the fastest—it’s about who can survive the longest.