Source: https://whitepips.com/blog/leverage-and-margin-on-a-funded-account Summary: What leverage and margin mean on MT5, why leverage does not change your loss per pip, the leverage on each WhitePips plan and where Max. Exposure fits. Last updated: 2026-10-28 # Leverage and margin on a funded account What leverage and margin mean on MT5, why leverage does not change your loss per pip, the leverage on each WhitePips plan and where Max. Exposure fits. - October 11, 2026 - 6 min read - 7 sections - Risk **In this article 7** 1. What is leverage in trading? 2. What is margin, and how is it calculated? 3. Does leverage change how much I lose per pip? 4. What leverage does each WhitePips plan have? 5. Why does Max. Exposure matter more than leverage? 6. What are margin call and stop out? 7. How should I use leverage on a funded account? Back to top October 11, 2026 6 min read Risk ## In short - Leverage is position size divided by margin. It sets how much you can open. - Loss per pip depends on lots and stop distance only; leverage does not change it. - WhitePips CFD leverage is 1:100 on Edge 1 Step, Edge 2 Step and Prime 2 Step, 1:50 on Prime 1 Step, 1:33 on Instant Pro and 1:25 on Instant Go. Futures use contract limits instead. - Max. Exposure is the tighter limit on most account sizes; on the smaller Instant accounts the leverage can be. - Margin call and stop out levels are set on the server. The loss limits on the plan are the floor that matters. Leverage is the ratio between the size of a position and the margin the platform sets aside to hold it: at 1:100, $1,100 of margin holds one lot of EURUSD worth $110,000. It decides how large a position you can open, not how much each pip is worth, so the loss on a trade depends on the lot size and the stop distance whatever the leverage. On WhitePips CFD plans the ceiling is 1:100 on Edge 1 Step, Edge 2 Step and Prime 2 Step, 1:50 on Prime 1 Step, 1:33 on Instant Pro and 1:25 on Instant Go. Leverage is often read as a measure of risk. It is closer to a measure of permission. This post explains what leverage and margin are, why they do not change the loss per pip, what margin call and stop out mean on MT5, and why Max. Exposure and the loss limits are the numbers that shape a funded account in practice. ## What is leverage in trading? A leveraged product lets you hold a position larger than the money set aside for it. The ratio between the two is the leverage. At 1:100 every $1 of margin supports $100 of position; at 1:25 every $1 supports $25. The position itself is full size. A one-lot EURUSD trade at 1:100 gains or loses exactly what a one-lot trade with no leverage would: $10 for each pip. Leverage changes the deposit, not the exposure. That is why leveraged products can lose money quickly: a small price move on a large position is a large amount of money relative to the margin and to the account. ## What is margin, and how is it calculated? Margin is the part of the account's equity the platform locks while a position is open. For a forex position it is the notional divided by the leverage: **Margin = lots × contract size × price ÷ leverage**, converted into dollars where the pair needs it. One lot of EURUSD at 1.1000 is $110,000 of notional. The margin it needs: - At 1:100: **$1,100**. - At 1:50: **$2,200**. - At 1:33: about **$3,333**. - At 1:25: **$4,400**. Some symbols, such as indices or crypto, can carry their own margin settings on the server, so check the symbol's specification in MT5 rather than assuming the account figure applies to everything. MT5 shows the live picture in the Trade tab of the Toolbox: balance, equity, margin in use, free margin and margin level. Free margin is equity minus the margin in use, and it is what is left for new positions. Margin level is equity divided by margin in use, as a percentage. With $100,000 of equity and $4,400 of margin in use, the margin level is about 2,273%. ## Does leverage change how much I lose per pip? No, and this is the point worth holding on to. Loss per pip comes from the position size alone: - 0.50 lots of EURUSD is **$5** per pip at 1:100, at 1:50 and at 1:25. - A 40-pip stop on that position loses **$200** at any of those leverages. - The only difference is the margin: **$550** at 1:100, **$1,100** at 1:50 and **$2,200** at 1:25. What higher leverage does change is how large a mistake the platform will accept. At 1:100 the margin on a $50K account would allow far more than any sensible risk budget calls for. Lower leverage only means the platform refuses an oversized order sooner. It does not make a correctly sized trade safer or riskier. Practical: size every trade from the dollars you accept losing and the stop distance, then glance at the margin it uses. If the margin figure ever feels tight, the position is too big for the account, whatever the leverage allows. ## What leverage does each WhitePips plan have? The maximum leverage is printed on every [CFD plan](https://whitepips.com/cfds) as a ceiling. The published figures are: - **Edge 1 Step:** 1:100 - **Edge 2 Step:** 1:100 - **Prime 1 Step:** 1:50 - **Prime 2 Step:** 1:100 - **Instant Pro:** 1:33 - **Instant Go:** 1:25 Each plan publishes the same figure for the evaluation and for the funded stage, at every account size. The figure that binds your account is the one in its Plan Specification at purchase. At 1:100, a $50K account could in principle open $5,000,000 of notional; at 1:33, a $50K Instant Pro could open $1,650,000. Futures accounts have no leverage figure. They are limited by the number of contracts open at once instead: 2 Mini or 20 Micro on a $25K One Step, 4 Mini or 40 Micro on a $50K One Step. A micro is a tenth of a mini, so the two figures are one limit written twice. The [futures plans](https://whitepips.com/futures) list every size. ## Why does Max. Exposure matter more than leverage? Because on most account sizes it is the tighter of the two. Max. Exposure caps the combined notional of all open positions: $1,000,000 on a $50K account, which is 2,000% of the balance. Against the $5,000,000 that 1:100 would allow on the same account, the exposure cap is one fifth. On a $100K account the cap is $1,250,000, against $10,000,000 at 1:100. The exception is the smaller Instant accounts, where the lower leverage can bind first. A $10K Instant Go at 1:25 has margin for $250,000 of notional at its starting balance, below its $300,000 exposure cap. On a $5K Instant Pro, 1:33 allows $165,000 against a $200,000 cap. On those accounts MT5 refuses an order for lack of margin before the exposure rule comes into play. Going over Max. Exposure is warning 1 of 2, not a hard breach. If the account is in profit at that moment, the profit is reset to the starting balance, with profitable days kept; a second time closes the account. The post on [Max Exposure and floating loss](https://whitepips.com/blog/max-exposure-and-floating-loss) covers the rule in full. ## What are margin call and stop out? On any MT5 account, two margin levels are set on the trading server. When the margin level falls to the first, the margin call level, the platform warns that free margin is running out. If it falls further, to the stop out level, the platform starts closing positions on its own, usually beginning with the one carrying the largest loss, until the margin level is back above the threshold. The exact levels are a server setting, not a WhitePips rule, and they are not printed on the plan. Check what your MT5 account shows rather than carrying over a figure from another broker. On a WhitePips account a margin call is not a demand for money. Every account is simulated, there is no negative balance and nothing to repay, and what a trader pays is the account fee. The loss limits are the real floor. On a $100K Prime 1 Step the Max Daily Loss is $4,000 (4%) and the Max Loss is $8,000 (8%), both measured on equity with open losses included, and reaching either ends the account. A position large enough to bring a margin call near is already far beyond what those limits allow for. ## How should I use leverage on a funded account? As a ceiling, not a target. The working order is the reverse of how leverage is usually presented: - Decide the dollar risk per trade from the daily limit. - Set the stop from the chart. - Work out the lot size from the two. - Check the notional against Max. Exposure, and only then look at the margin. A worked example on the same $100K Prime 1 Step. Risk 0.5% of the account, $500, on EURUSD with a 25-pip stop: $500 divided by (25 × $10) is 2.00 lots. That is $220,000 of notional at 1.1000, well inside the $1,250,000 exposure cap, and it needs $4,400 of margin at 1:50, which leaves the margin level above 2,000%. Leverage played no part in the decision; it only confirmed that the trade could be opened. The [position size calculator](https://whitepips.com/tools/position-size-calculator) does the first three steps. The [risk disclosure](https://whitepips.com/legal/risk-disclosure) puts the point plainly: the leverage and contract limits are ceilings, not recommendations, and trading at the maximum makes it much more likely that a loss limit is reached. Reference pages [EURUSD margin by plan](https://whitepips.com/symbols/eurusd) [XAUUSD margin by plan](https://whitepips.com/symbols/xauusd) [US30 margin by plan](https://whitepips.com/symbols/us30) More in Risk [Risk-reward and win rate: the maths of passing](https://whitepips.com/blog/risk-reward-and-win-rate) [What happens when you break a prop firm rule](https://whitepips.com/blog/what-happens-when-you-break-a-rule) [EOD trailing drawdown, explained with an example](https://whitepips.com/blog/eod-trailing-drawdown-explained) [Read next Max exposure and max floating loss: two rules to watch Risk · 7 min read](https://whitepips.com/blog/max-exposure-and-floating-loss) Educational content, not financial advice. Trading carries risk and most people who attempt an evaluation do not pass it. Accounts are simulated; the rules that bind yours are the ones printed on your plan and in the trading rules. [All articles](https://whitepips.com/blog) ## Related articles Risk October 2, 2026 7 min read ### Max exposure and max floating loss: two rules to watch What the Max Exposure and Max Floating Loss rules measure, how a warning becomes a closed account, and how to size so you never see one. [Read the article](https://whitepips.com/blog/max-exposure-and-floating-loss) Markets October 11, 2026 7 min read ### Lot sizes explained: standard, mini and micro lots What 1.00, 0.10 and 0.01 lots mean in units and dollars, how lot size scales risk, and how to pick a lot size from a stop and a risk budget. [Read the article](https://whitepips.com/blog/lot-sizes-explained) Risk August 27, 2026 2 min read ### Position sizing against a loss limit, not a feeling How to turn a published drawdown into a per-trade position size, and why the arithmetic should be done once rather than trade by trade. [Read the article](https://whitepips.com/blog/sizing-against-the-limit) ## Ready to see the plans? 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