Forex Margin Required Calculator
FOREX · MARGIN REQUIRED · LIVE ACCOUNT-CURRENCY CONVERSION
Notional and margin required for any forex position and leverage, in the pair's own quote currency or converted to your account currency via a live FX rate.
What is margin required?
Margin is the fraction of a position's full notional value your broker actually locks up, determined by your leverage. It comes out naturally in the pair's own quote currency (e.g. EUR/USD's margin is in USD), the same convention every other quote-currency calculator on this site uses.
The formula
- Notional = units × price
- Margin required = notional / leverage
Worked example
1 standard lot (100,000 units) of EUR/USD at 1.1000, 50:1 leverage:
- notional = 100,000 × 1.1000 = $110,000
- margin = $110,000 / 50 = $2,200
Why leverage cuts both ways
Higher leverage frees up more of your account balance for other positions, but it doesn't change how much you can lose: your P&L is driven by the full notional value, not the margin you put down. Lower margin requirements mean it's easier to open a position too large for your actual risk tolerance, not that the position itself got safer.
Where to go next
Once you know your margin, check your margin level against your account equity, or size the position from a risk budget directly with the Position Size Calculator.
Use via API or MCP
This calculation is available as a deterministic API call for bots and AI agents.
What's the difference between notional and margin?
Notional is the full value of the position you control (units × price). Margin is the fraction of that your broker actually requires you to put down, determined by your leverage: margin = notional / leverage.
Why is my margin in USD when my account is in a different currency?
Margin comes out in the pair's own quote currency by default (EUR/USD's margin is naturally in USD). Enter your account currency below the result to convert it via a live exchange rate.
Does higher leverage mean lower risk?
No. Leverage changes how much margin you need to open a position, not how much you can lose. Your profit or loss is still driven by the full notional value moving with the market, regardless of leverage.
Is margin the same as my maximum possible loss?
No, and this is a common misconception. A large enough adverse move can lose you more than your posted margin (subject to your broker's stop-out policy). Margin required tells you what's locked up to open the position, not a cap on what you can lose.