Work out exactly how much to buy or sell so a single trade risks only a fixed percentage of your account. Enter your equity, risk per trade, entry and stop-loss.
If implied leverage is above 1x, the position is larger than your equity and requires margin.
Risk amount = equity × risk %Position size = risk amount ÷ |entry − stop|Position value = position size × entry price
With $10,000 equity, risking 1% ($100) per trade, an entry of $30,000 and a stop at $29,000: the per-unit risk is $1,000, so position size = 100 ÷ 1,000 = 0.1 units, a position worth $3,000. If price hits your stop, you lose exactly $100 — your predefined 1%.
Sizing to a fixed risk is the foundation of survival in trading. Pair it with a known reward-to-risk — every CryptoPatterns signal ships with a defined entry, stop and target. Learn the underlying ideas in the glossary.
First decide the cash you’re willing to risk: account equity × risk % per trade. Then divide that by the per-unit risk (the distance between your entry and stop): position size = risk amount ÷ |entry − stop|. Multiply by entry price to get the position’s notional value.
A widely-used rule of thumb is 1–2% of account equity per trade, so a string of losses can’t materially damage the account. The right number depends on your strategy’s win rate and reward-to-risk — see expectancy in our glossary.
Yes — directly. A tighter stop (smaller distance from entry) lets you take a larger position for the same dollar risk, while a wider stop requires a smaller position. That’s why setting the stop first, then sizing to it, is the disciplined order of operations.
This tool covers one position. Risk X-Ray aggregates your whole book into true effective leverage and a liquidation-cascade map.
Start free