# Liquidations Surge allows traders to utilise leverage to amplify the size of their positions, as detailed in the [traders](https://docs.surge.trade/about-surge/traders "mention") and [collateral](https://docs.surge.trade/about-surge/collateral "mention") sections. Collateral provided is used as security to open a leveraged position. In the event that the market moves unfavourably against a traders position, the value of the collateral may be at risk of providing inadequate security to cover any losses, at which point this collateral may be liquidated automatically by Surge. ### Initial Margin Surge requires a minimum amount of equity to be held by a user in order to open and maintain a leveraged position and avoid liquidation. In the example below, assume a long position is opened with 20x leverage. The total position size is $256.89 as shown:
Hovering over the coloured bar displays the 'Risk Meter' which represents the initial margin utilisation. For this position and considering 20x leverage, a minimum of $256.89 / 20 must be available as equity to open the position, which in this case equates to $12.84. As can be seen in the image above, we have $13.20 available so the Risk Meter displays a value of less than 100% indicating that we currently have assets greater than the initial margin requirement. If the market moves against this position, the balance shown (taking into account the current profit/loss) will reduce, and in the event this drops below the initial margin requirement, will be reflected in the Risk Meter showing a value in excess of 100%. If this happens, the position is at considerable risk, but not yet liquidated. ### Maintenance Margin In addition to the initial margin described above, Surge requires a minimum amount of margin to prevent liquidation, referred to as Maintenance Margin. This is currently set by Surge to be 1%. In the example above, assuming a position size of $256.89, a minimum equity of $2.57 must be available to keep the position open. In the event that the account drops below this value, [keepers](https://docs.surge.trade/about-surge/keepers "mention") will automatically liquidate the collateral to prevent the account from running at a loss. Adjacent to the "Risk Meter" shown in the image above is a coloured bar which starts at green and rises through to red as the account approaches the Maintenance Margin limit and liquidation. It is important to remember that Surge utilises [#cross-margin-collateral](https://docs.surge.trade/collateral#cross-margin-collateral "mention") which aggregates margin across positions, allowing losses in some positions to be offset by profit in others when calculating margin requirements. Surge also may apply a discounted value to collateral when calculating margin requirements, as described in the [#collateral-value-and-discount](https://docs.surge.trade/collateral#collateral-value-and-discount "mention") section.