What Is Bybit Maintenance Margin Ratio? When Will Liquidation Happen?

Bybit Maintenance Margin Ratio Definition

1. The maintenance margin ratio is a real-time risk control metric used by Bybit to monitor open positions in perpetual and futures contracts.

2. It represents the percentage of equity relative to the required margin for maintaining an open position, calculated as Equity / Required Margin × 100%.

3. This ratio dynamically updates with every price tick and funding settlement, reflecting instantaneous solvency status.

4. Unlike initial margin, which applies at entry, maintenance margin serves as the ongoing threshold below which forced liquidation is triggered.

5. Bybit displays this value directly on the contract trading interface beside each active position, updated every 200 milliseconds.

Liquidation Trigger Conditions

1. Liquidation occurs the moment the maintenance margin ratio drops to or below 100%, not when it falls slightly below but precisely at that threshold.

2. At that exact moment, Bybit’s matching engine initiates auto-liquidation using the Insurance Fund to cover remaining obligations.

3. No manual intervention or warning pop-up delays the process — execution is atomic and irreversible once the condition is met.

4. The liquidation price shown pre-trade is theoretical; actual trigger depends on real-time mark price, not last traded price.

5. Partial liquidations do not exist on Bybit — positions are fully closed upon breach, regardless of size or leverage level.

Factors Influencing Maintenance Margin Levels

1. Leverage selection directly determines the maintenance margin requirement: higher leverage lowers the threshold percentage, increasing liquidation sensitivity.

2. Asset volatility impacts the mark price calculation, which feeds into equity valuation and thus alters the ratio without user action.

3. Funding rate accruals — whether positive or negative — adjust equity every 8 hours, shifting the ratio even in flat markets.

4. Position size scaling changes required margin linearly, while equity changes non-linearly due to PnL fluctuations.

5. Cross-margin mode aggregates wallet balance across all positions, whereas isolated margin confines equity to a single position — both affect how the ratio computes.

Real-Time Monitoring Tools on Bybit

1. The “Margin Level” column in the Positions tab shows live maintenance margin ratio with color-coded thresholds: green above 150%, yellow between 120%–150%, red at or below 100%.

2. A floating “Liquidation Price” indicator appears next to each position, recalculating continuously based on current funding, basis spread, and index composition.

3. API endpoints such as GET /v5/position/list return maintainMarginRatio as a decimal value, enabling algorithmic monitoring.

4. Websocket stream position pushes updates every 100ms, allowing bots to react before visual UI refreshes.

5. Margin call alerts via email or SMS activate only when ratio falls below 110%, offering limited buffer before full liquidation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Does Bybit use mark price or last price to determine liquidation?Bybit uses the mark price — derived from weighted average of top order books across major spot exchanges plus funding rate adjustment — not last traded price.

Q2: Can I manually add margin after my ratio drops to 105%?Yes, users may deposit additional collateral into isolated margin positions at any time before hitting 100%, instantly raising the ratio.

Q3: Is maintenance margin the same for all contract types on Bybit?No. BTCUSDT perpetual requires 0.5% maintenance margin, while low-liquidity altcoin pairs like PEPEUSDT require 1.5% due to wider bid-ask spreads and higher volatility.

Q4: What happens to unrealized PnL during liquidation?Unrealized PnL is crystallized at the liquidation execution price and included in final equity settlement before Insurance Fund absorption.