> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.arcus.xyz/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Margin & leverage

> How initial and maintenance margin work on Arcus perps, leverage limits, and the higher initial-margin regime when an underlying market is closed

Perps are traded on **margin**: you post collateral and control a larger position with leverage. Two thresholds govern every position — **initial margin** (what you need to open or increase a position) and **maintenance margin** (the minimum you must keep to avoid [liquidation](/concepts/perpetuals/liquidations)).

<Note>
  This page is conceptual. Live per-market margin and leverage parameters come from [`GET /v1/markets`](/api-reference/public/get-markets); your account's current margin and equity come from [`GET /v1/account`](/api-reference/public/get-account).
</Note>

## Collateral

Collateral is held as **USDG**, the protocol's settlement stablecoin, in your Arcus account. Your account equity is your collateral balance plus the unrealized profit and loss of your open positions. See [Onboarding & deposits](/concepts/onboarding) for how funds arrive as USDG.

## Initial vs. maintenance margin

| Term                   | What it controls                                                                                                                                                     |
| ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Initial margin**     | The collateral required to open a new position or add to an existing one. Higher initial margin = lower maximum leverage.                                            |
| **Maintenance margin** | The minimum collateral a position must retain. If equity falls below this level, the position becomes eligible for [liquidation](/concepts/perpetuals/liquidations). |

Each market sets its own initial and maintenance margin requirements based on its risk profile, expressed as a fraction of position notional.

## Cross and isolated margin

The exchange is designed to support both **cross margin** (positions share the account's collateral, so the whole balance backs every position) and **isolated margin** (collateral is allocated to a single position, capping its risk to that allocation).

**At launch, perps use cross margin.** Isolated margin is planned to follow.

## Leverage

Leverage is the inverse of the initial margin requirement. Arcus supports up to **50x** leverage; the maximum is set per market and published with each market's parameters. Higher-volatility or less-liquid markets carry lower maximum leverage.

## Off-hours margin

For perps whose underlying has set trading hours (equities, commodity and index ETFs), Arcus **raises the initial margin requirement while the underlying market is closed**. This makes it more capital-intensive to open or grow positions during thin overnight and weekend liquidity, reducing the risk of disorderly moves and liquidation cascades.

Maintenance margin is **not** raised off-hours — existing, adequately-margined positions are not pushed toward liquidation simply because the market closed. Crypto perps have no off-hours regime; their margin requirements are constant.

See [Off-hours trading](/concepts/perpetuals/funding#off-hours-trading) for the related funding and price-band behavior.

<Note>
  Exact off-hours margin multipliers and per-market requirements are part of each market's published parameters and may change. Always read the live values from the API rather than hard-coding them.
</Note>