Liquidation price on Hyperliquid and Aster, with examples

On Hyperliquid, a position is liquidated when your account equity (for cross margin) or the position's isolated margin falls below the maintenance margin, measured at the mark price. The maintenance margin is half of the initial margin at the market's maximum leverage: 1.25% of the position value on a 40x market like BTC, up to 16.7% on a 3x market. Hyperliquid publishes the exact formula for the liquidation price, which this guide works through with numbers. Aster follows the same principle with its own maintenance rates. Either way, the venue liquidates, not the app you trade through.

What triggers a liquidation

Three terms do all the work:

• Mark price. A fair price built from external exchange prices and the venue's own order book. Liquidations use it, not the last trade, so one large order printing far from the market does not liquidate you on its own.
• Initial margin. What you put up to open: position value ÷ leverage.
• Maintenance margin. The minimum the position must keep. On Hyperliquid it is half of the initial margin at the market's maximum leverage, whatever leverage you chose.

Some Hyperliquid markets have margin tiers, where larger positions get lower maximum leverage and so a higher maintenance margin. The formula below then uses the tier that applies to the position's size at the liquidation price.

Hyperliquid's liquidation price formula

From Hyperliquid's docs:

liq_price = price − side × margin_available ÷ position_size ÷ (1 − l × side)

• side is 1 for a long and −1 for a short.
• l is 1 ÷ maintenance leverage (0.0125 on a 40x market).
• margin_available is, for isolated margin, the position's margin minus its maintenance margin; for cross margin, your account value minus the maintenance margin of all cross positions.
• price is the entry price, and position_size is in coins.

Example 1: isolated long at different leverage

BTC at 60,000 USDC, a long of 0.1 BTC (6,000 USDC position), BTC max leverage 40x so l = 0.0125. Maintenance margin is 6,000 × 1.25% = 75 USDC.

Take the 10x row: 60,000 − 525 ÷ 0.1 ÷ (1 − 0.0125) = 60,000 − 5,316 = 54,684. Check: at 54,684 the position has lost about 532 USDC, leaving 68 USDC of margin, which is exactly the maintenance margin on a position now worth 5,468 USDC.

A rule of thumb follows: on isolated margin the distance to liquidation is a little less than 1 ÷ leverage. At 10x, a move of about 9% against you liquidates.

Example 2: the same trade as a short

A 10x isolated short of 0.1 BTC at 60,000. Now side = −1:

60,000 + 525 ÷ 0.1 ÷ (1 + 0.0125) = 60,000 + 5,185 = about 65,185, 8.6% above entry.

Example 3: cross margin ignores your leverage setting

Same long of 0.1 BTC at 60,000, on cross margin, with 2,000 USDC in the account and no other positions. Margin available is 2,000 − 75 = 1,925, so the liquidation price is 60,000 − 1,925 ÷ 0.1 ÷ 0.9875 = about 40,506, 32.5% away.

That number does not change whether you set 5x or 20x. On cross margin, the whole account is the margin: lower leverage only locks more of it as initial margin, it does not move liquidation. To move it, you add funds, reduce the position, or close other losing positions. Hyperliquid's docs say this directly: the liquidation price of a cross position is independent of the leverage set.

Cross versus isolated

Neither venue lets you switch mode while a position in that market is open.

How the venues liquidate

Hyperliquid. When equity falls below the maintenance margin, Hyperliquid sends market orders for the position to the order book. If that brings the account back above maintenance, the rest of your collateral stays with you. Positions larger than 100,000 USDC are liquidated 20% at a time, with a 30-second cooldown. If equity falls below two thirds of the maintenance margin without the book absorbing it, the liquidator vault (part of HLP) takes over the position, and the maintenance margin is not returned. Hyperliquid charges no separate liquidation clearance fee.

Aster. A position is liquidated when its margin (collateral plus realized and unrealized PnL) falls below the maintenance margin, triggered by the mark price. Aster cancels your open orders, sends an immediate-or-cancel order to reduce the position, and stops if that restores enough margin. Otherwise the rest is closed at the bankruptcy price and passed to the insurance fund. Aster recommends keeping your margin ratio below 80%. Larger positions need more margin and get lower maximum leverage.

Moving liquidation away

A stop loss above your liquidation price (for a long) is usually the cheapest protection: you exit at your price and keep the maintenance margin a backstop liquidation would take. Remember that a stop fills at market, so in a fast move it can fill worse than its trigger.

Funding also moves your liquidation price over time. Hyperliquid notes that a position's liquidation price can change with funding payments, and Aster takes funding from your balance first and from the position's margin if the balance is short. A long hold that pays high funding drifts closer to liquidation.

Watching it in Prow

Prow shows the venue's own liquidation price on every position and turns it into a distance: normal above 20%, amber from 10% to 20%, red under 10%. Portfolio sorts positions closest to liquidation first, across Hyperliquid, Aster and Lighter, and the margin sheet previews the new liquidation price before you add margin or change leverage. Prow can push an alert when a position gets within 5%, 10% or 20% of liquidation, even with the app closed. See Liquidation, Leverage and margin mode and Alerts.

Frequently asked questions

How is the liquidation price calculated on Hyperliquid?

liq_price = price − side × margin_available ÷ position_size ÷ (1 − l × side), where side is 1 for a long and −1 for a short, l is 1 ÷ maintenance leverage, and margin_available is the isolated margin (or cross account value) minus the maintenance margin.

Does lowering leverage move my liquidation price?

On isolated margin, yes: lower leverage assigns more margin to the position. On cross margin, no: the whole account is already the margin, so liquidation only moves when the balance, the position size or other positions change.

What is the maintenance margin on Hyperliquid?

Half of the initial margin at the market's maximum leverage. On a 40x market that is 1.25% of the position value; on a 3x market, about 16.7%.

Does Hyperliquid liquidate on the last price or the mark price?

On the mark price, which combines prices from external exchanges with Hyperliquid's own order book. Aster also liquidates on its mark price.

Sources

Checked October 5, 2026:

• Hyperliquid docs: Liquidations, Margining
• Aster docs: Liquidations
• Prow docs: Liquidation, Leverage and margin mode