Isolated Margin vs Maintenance Margin

A margin mode in which only the capital specifically assigned to a position is at risk; if liquidated, the loss is limited to the assigned margin and does not affect the rest of the account balance; the correct default mode for speculative directional trades.

The minimum margin balance required to keep a leveraged derivatives position open; when the margin balance falls to this level, the exchange triggers automatic liquidation; typically 0.5% of notional value for standard-sized positions on major exchanges.