$ZEC Perpetual Contract Leverage: It's not about the multiplier, it's about the baseline
People often ask me: When trading ZEC perpetual contracts, how many times of leverage is appropriate? I have answered this question hundreds of times, whether it's novices, veterans, or even big players, everyone has stumbled over leverage.
First, it’s important to understand: leverage is never a shortcut to wealth, but a double-edged sword—used correctly, it accelerates profits; used incorrectly, it can lead to severe losses.
Perpetual contracts have no expiration date, and as long as you don't get liquidated, you can hold them indefinitely. This freedom brings temptation: you can enter and exit at any time, and with unlimited renewals, while profits are amplified, risks are also proportionally increased.
Yesterday, a friend mentioned he often uses 30 to 50 times leverage. I jokingly asked why he doesn’t use 100 times, and he said it gets liquidated too quickly.
I laughed; in fact, as long as you use leverage, no matter how many times, you are walking on the edge of a knife. The only difference is how much reaction time the market gives you.
Taking $ZEC as an example, a 30 times leverage with a fluctuation of 16U could lead to liquidation, 50 times is 10U, and 100 times only requires 5U.
1 time leverage is stable but hard to see returns, while 100 times is powerful but must have stop-losses and discipline; otherwise, you might be out in the blink of an eye.
The real cause of liquidation is not having too high leverage, but having chaotic positions and insufficient margin.
Trying to leverage a few hundred U to gain tens of thousands in profits, you can easily get swept out of the market with even slight fluctuations. The most regrettable thing is not losing money, but “having the right direction, yet failing to earn due to being unable to withstand the fluctuations.”
The core principle is simple: perpetual contracts are not afraid of high leverage, but of not leaving a buffer. Margin must withstand normal fluctuations, and remember three iron rules:
Always use isolated margin, do not touch cross margin; always set stop-losses, holding onto a position is the prelude to liquidation; don’t be greedy with your targets, for example, with a capital of 5000U earning 50 to 100U daily, the power of compound interest far exceeds imagination.
Leverage is like a magnifying glass, what is magnified is never the market, but your mentality and discipline.
Most people lose not because the market is too harsh, but because they are too reckless. Remember: being able to control a 100 times loss is safer than not setting stop-losses at 5 times.
Perpetual contracts are never about betting to win; they are about winning through a system—leverage itself is not wrong, losing control is the root of disaster.
