Solana perpetual futures: leverage, collateral, fees and liquidation

Separate collateral, notional and leverage

Consider a hypothetical linear contract quoted and settled in USDC. You post 100 USDC and open 500 USDC of SOL exposure at 100 USDC per SOL. The position represents five SOL of price exposure and begins at five-times leverage before costs.

If the price rises to 110, the price profit is 5 × 10 = 50 USDC. If it falls to 90, the loss is 50. Relative to the 100-USDC starting collateral, those are +50% and −50% before fees. The underlying asset moved only 10% in either case.

This arithmetic assumes constant quantity and stable collateral value. A product using volatile collateral, different settlement rules or position-size adjustments needs its own calculation. Do not transplant this example into an interface's liquidation-price formula.

Track equity as the position changes

Equity combines the eligible collateral value with recognized profit or loss, then subtracts applicable costs. Required margin is a separate condition imposed by the product. Initial margin governs opening or increasing risk; maintenance margin helps determine whether an existing position can remain open.

In the teaching position, a fall to 90 leaves 50 USDC before costs. Suppose the chosen teaching rule requires 30 USDC of maintenance support and the accumulated costs are 5. The remaining support is 45. Another price move or cost accrual can bring it closer to the threshold without any new trade.

A displayed liquidation price is an estimate under the product's current inputs. The actual trigger depends on the account model, oracle, collateral valuation and maintenance rules. Cross-margin systems can connect several positions, so another market's loss can affect the account.

Identify each recurring and transaction charge

Opening and closing can incur trading charges and price impact. A product may also charge borrowing costs for liquidity supporting the position. Other perpetual models use periodic funding transfers to align a contract with a reference market. The label funding does not prove that two products calculate the same charge.

Jupiter's position documentation records a cumulative-interest snapshot, while its custody state supplies inputs for borrow fees. The trade API separately exposes fee and profit-and-loss fields. Inspect what the displayed P&L already includes before subtracting the same fee a second time.

For an illustrative profitable close, gross price profit of 50 minus 1 opening charge, 1 closing charge and 3 holding cost leaves 45 USDC. Network costs paid outside the position remain another ledger entry. These are selected example values, not Jupiter's current fee schedule.

A linear teaching position amplifies price moves

Read a position and a pending request separately

A position account records an existing exposure. A request to increase, decrease or close it records an intended action. Jupiter's PositionRequest model illustrates that distinction: submitting a close request is a different event from executing it and returning collateral.

When an interface appears stuck, preserve the request and position addresses. Inspect whether the request executed, failed or remains pending, then compare the position state and resulting transfers. Do not assume that a submitted take-profit or stop-loss request has already removed the risk.

Understand liquidation and the remaining claim

An eligible liquidator can reduce or close exposure under the product's rules. Liquidation is an execution process with its own fees and available liquidity. A stop-loss request can fail to execute before that process if conditions move too fast or its bounds cannot be met.

Before opening a position, identify the source of collateral value, the pricing rule used for liquidation and the supported reduction path. Use the actual product's margin preview and documentation. The percentage shown beside leverage alone cannot answer how much collateral you can safely withdraw.

After a close, reconcile size, realized P&L, paid charges and returned collateral. A positive price move can coexist with a poor net result when the position stayed open through substantial costs.