Bitcoin position size calculator
How much bitcoin to trade so a stop-out costs what you chose. Works for spot and perpetual futures, shows the margin at your leverage, and sizes CME bitcoin futures too.
Market type
Risk is
Adds the risk to reward and what the trade makes if the target is reached.
Only changes the margin the position ties up, never the size or the risk.
Position size
0.066 BTC
Loses $99.00 if the stop is hit (0.99% of the account). Exactly 0.0667 would fit, but orders go in steps of 0.001, so it rounds down.
= $1.50
Drag the stop or target line, or focus one and use the arrow keys. Each block is what one 0.001 BTC loses at the stop.
- Money at risk
- $100.00
- Stop distance
- $1,500.00 a coin
- Position value
- $6,600
- Risk to reward
- 1:2.67
- Makes at target
- $264.00
- Wins needed to break even
- 27%
BTC at a glance
- Spot and perpetuals
- Sized in BTC, usually in steps of 0.001
- CME Bitcoin (BTC)
- 5 bitcoin, $5 tick = $25
- CME Micro Bitcoin (MBT)
- 0.1 bitcoin, $5 tick = $0.50
- $1,000 move
- $1,000 on 1 BTC, $100 on 0.1 BTC
What a move is worth
| Move | 1 MBT | 1 BTC |
|---|---|---|
| $5 (1 tick) | $0.50 | $25.00 |
| $100 | $10.00 | $500.00 |
| $500 | $50.00 | $2,500.00 |
| $1,000 | $100.00 | $5,000.00 |
| $2,500 | $250.00 | $12,500.00 |
| $5,000 | $500.00 | $25,000.00 |
How bitcoin position size works
On spot or a perpetual future, size is just a number of coins. Every $1 bitcoin moves is $1 per coin you hold, so the risk on a trade is the distance from entry to stop times the coins.
Worked through: $10,000 account, 1% risk = $100. Buy at 100,000 with the stop at 98,500, a $1,500 stop. $100 / $1,500 = 0.0667 BTC, rounded down to 0.066 BTC, a position worth about $6,600 that loses $99 at the stop.
Leverage changes the margin, not the risk
Leverage decides how much of your money the exchange holds as margin, nothing more. The 0.066 BTC above loses $99 at the stop whether you open it at 1× or 20×; at 10× it ties up about $660 of margin instead of $6,600.
What high leverage does change is how close the liquidation price sits. If your stop is beyond the liquidation price, the exchange closes you out first and the loss can be the whole margin. Keep the stop well inside it, and size from the stop, never from the leverage.
CME bitcoin futures
Regulated bitcoin futures on CME come in two sizes. The standard BTC contract is 5 bitcoin, so each $5 tick is $25 and a $1,000 move is $5,000 per contract. Micro Bitcoin (MBT) is 0.1 bitcoin: $0.50 a tick and $100 per $1,000 move.
Switch the calculator to Futures to size either one. A $1,500 stop costs $150 on one MBT, so a $100 risk fits zero MBT: that stop needs either more risk or a closer level.