What Is ‘Initial Margin’ and ‘Maintenance Margin’ in the Context of Perpetual Swaps?

Initial margin is the minimum amount of capital required to open a leveraged perpetual swap position. It serves as collateral to cover potential losses.

Maintenance margin is the minimum amount of capital required to keep the position open. If the account equity falls below the maintenance margin, the trader will receive a margin call, and failure to add funds will lead to liquidation.