At 3 a.m., the phone kept ringing nonstop. When I answered, the urgent voice on the other end said: "Bro, I opened a 20x leverage full position with 10,000 USDT, and it only pulled back 5%, but my account is almost liquidated... What the heck is going on?"

I asked him to send over a screenshot of his trade — full position, 20x leverage, no stop-loss set at all.

This guy exemplifies a common problem among many new traders: thinking that full position means "can withstand," but in reality, it's quite the opposite. Misusing full leverage can lead to liquidation much faster than proper position sizing.

**The truth about full liquidation: Leverage is just surface, the position size is the key**

Taking a 1,000 USDT account as an example:
- Using 900 USDT with 10x leverage, a 5% adverse move will directly wipe out the account
- Using 100 USDT with 10x leverage, a 50% move is needed to liquidate

What's the difference? The proportion of capital used. That friend invested 95% of his principal at once; a slight pullback and he was wiped out instantly. That’s the real killer.

**Three ironclad risk control principles — I’ve used this system for half a year without liquidation**

**Principle 1: No single position exceeds 20% of total funds**

Suppose the account has 10,000 USDT; the maximum single trade should be 2,000 USDT. Even if you’re wrong and set a 10% stop-loss, you only lose 200 USDT, which doesn’t hurt the principal, leaving room for a rebound. Even if you make several wrong calls in a row, the account can still hold.

**Principle 2: Maximum loss per trade is 3% of total funds**

With 2,000 USDT at 10x leverage, setting a 1.5% stop-loss results in a 300 USDT loss, which is 3% of the total. Even if you make several mistakes in a row, it won’t damage your core capital.

**Principle 3: Don’t open positions in choppy markets; don’t chase profits high**

Only open positions during trend breakouts. Resist the temptation in sideways markets. Once in a position, never add more, to avoid emotional trading.

**The true meaning of full position: Tolerance buffer, not gambling**

The original purpose of full leverage mode is to leave room for market fluctuations. But the premise is light position sizing for error correction + strict risk management.

A trader once told me he kept getting liquidated every month before understanding these principles. After following these three rules, he grew his account from 5,000 USDT to 80,000 USDT in three months. He said, "I used to think full position was gambling my life, but now I realize, full position is actually about surviving longer."

The survival rule in crypto markets isn’t about who makes money fast, but who survives the longest. Bet less on the direction, focus more on position sizing — seemingly slow strategies can actually accelerate growth.

Markets are there every day; opportunities never run out. The key is to use the right method to go through the entire cycle.