Liquidation is the exchange closing you

What triggers it

Kraken values open multi-collateral positions with the mark price, not with the last trade. For these perpetuals the mark is the index plus a short moving average of the contract's premium, and that premium is capped at 1% while the index is available. Unrealised profit, unrealised loss, and unrealised funding all change the equity of the wallet.

Kraken's liquidation FAQ says the estimated liquidation price of a multi-collateral contract is the mark price at which margin equity would fall below the maintenance margin. The estimate is not a fixed number. It moves when price, funding, other positions, or the value of your collateral moves. You are responsible for watching the account.

The specification describes maintenance margin as half of initial margin, and initial margin as low as 2%, with higher margin required as positions get larger. The full schedule is Kraken's margin table, by contract. PERP KING's customer leverage cap of 1× to 10× is a tighter ceiling inside the terminal. It does not replace Kraken's schedule, and it does not calculate a guaranteed distance to liquidation for you. There is no liquidation-price calculator on this site. Initial margin is only notional divided by leverage.

Partial and full

Kraken distinguishes a partial liquidation from a full one on the multi-collateral wallet. If equity is below the maintenance margin but still above a deeper liquidation threshold, Kraken can close part of the exposure until equity is back above maintenance, or until nothing is left. If equity is through both levels, the position goes through a full liquidation. The fee is different in the two cases. Kraken's fee schedule is the source for the amount. This page does not restate a fee that Kraken can revise.

Because the multi-collateral wallet is shared, a fall in the value of the collateral itself can push the account through the threshold even if the contract you are watching has not moved as far as you expected. Kraken says all collateral in that wallet is at risk in an account-wide liquidation. Haircuts mean a coin balance may count for less than its spot price. Removing funds from a wallet that has open positions raises effective leverage and can cause a liquidation. That warning is Kraken's.

A stop is not a liquidation price

A protective stop is an order you, or PERP KING, place. Liquidation is a procedure the exchange runs when margin fails. They use related prices and they can interact badly. If the mark reaches the liquidation region before the stop is filled, the exchange liquidates. That is more likely when the stop sits close to the liquidation estimate, and when the market gaps.

A stop can also fill worse than its stop price. The risk-per-trade figure assumes a fill near the stop. Liquidation is outside that assumption. Read protective stops for the order PERP KING actually places, and your limits for the risks no control removes.

What PERP KING does, and does not do

• It sizes from your risk per trade and your leverage cap, which cannot be set above 10×.
• It places a reduce-only stop at the exchange triggered on the mark, and closes the position if that stop cannot be placed.
• It does not send an isolated-margin flag. Cross margin is Kraken's default on this wallet.
• It does not publish a liquidation-price formula, and it does not promise that a stop will fire before liquidation.
• It does not take over positions it did not open, so a manual position remains your margin problem.

Funding changes the equity liquidation watches. Simulation does not include funding, so a simulated position cannot show you this path. LIVE can. See funding.

Questions

Sources

Figures in this section are Kraken's, from the documents linked below. They are not PERP KING settings, and Kraken can change them. Clients in the EEA should use the specification Kraken links for that region.

• Liquidation FAQ — Kraken Derivatives
• Linear Multi-Collateral Derivatives Contract Specifications — Kraken, last updated 8 September 2026. A separate specification is linked from that page for EEA clients.
• Fees for Derivatives trading — Kraken
• Derivatives Margin Schedule & Maximum Leverage — Kraken