On a CFD account, leverage is a single number attached to the account. You pick or are given a ratio, and every position uses it. That is how the CFD product works (see What Is Leverage? in the CFD help center).

Futures do not work that way. Each futures contract is a standardized agreement for a fixed amount of an underlying market. One ES contract always controls $50 per index point. One CL contract always controls 1,000 barrels of crude oil. You do not choose a ratio. You either hold the contract or you do not.

What you actually put up to hold that contract is margin: a good-faith deposit, not a loan and not a down payment. The exchange and the platform set it per contract. The ratio between the size of what you control and the margin you post is your effective leverage, and you calculate it rather than select it.

Two margin numbers matter, and they do different jobs.

Initial margin. The amount your account must have free to open one contract. If you do not have it, the order is rejected.

Maintenance margin. The amount you must keep in the account to hold the position open. If your equity falls below the total maintenance margin of your open positions, the position is at risk and can be liquidated.

On many platforms initial margin sits at or slightly above maintenance margin. The margin required per contract is shown on Upcomers X for each instrument; treat initial margin as equal to or a little higher than maintenance unless the platform shows otherwise.

The margin figures below are examples for explaining the calculation, not a current margin schedule. Use the platform’s displayed requirements for your account.

Two steps. First find the notional value of one contract. Then divide by the margin.

Step 1. Notional value = contract multiplier × current price. The multiplier is the dollar value of one full point of the underlying. For ES it is $50, so at a price of 5,000 one ES contract controls 50 × 5,000 = $250,000 of index exposure.

Step 2. Effective leverage = notional ÷ margin. With ES maintenance margin at $25,060, the leverage is $250,000 ÷ $25,060 = about 10:1. Roughly $10 of market exposure for every $1 of margin.

Because notional depends on price, leverage drifts as the market moves. If ES rises to 5,500, one contract controls $275,000, and against the same margin the leverage is about 11:1. Nothing on your account changed. The market did.

Each row uses an example price and margin requirement. Notional = multiplier × price; effective leverage = notional ÷ margin. Current platform values may differ.

Read the two extremes. ES and MES land at the same ~10:1 because the micro is exactly one-tenth of the mini in both notional and margin. The ratio is identical; only the dollar size changes. 6E, by contrast, controls 125,000 euros for $2,400 of margin, so its effective leverage is far higher (~57:1). Currency futures are naturally high-leverage because a small percentage move on a large notional is a large dollar move.

This is the core lesson: two contracts can require similar margin and yet carry very different real exposure. Always work from notional, not from the margin number.

Use the margin requirements displayed on your trading platform. Platform requirements can differ from exchange minimums and can change by instrument or market conditions.

If your account equity drops below the total maintenance margin of your open positions, the position is under-margined. Upcomers X can then auto-liquidate, closing part or all of your positions at market to bring the account back into line. You do not get to choose which positions close or at what price. This is a platform mechanism, separate from the firm rules.

In practice, though, this is rarely the first thing you hit on an Upcomers account, because the firm's drawdown rules bite well before you run out of margin.

Margin determines whether you can open or maintain a position. Drawdown and trade-loss rules set separate limits on the losses your account may incur. Meeting a margin requirement does not make a position safe under those rules.

For example, an illustrative $25,060 requirement is less than a $50,000 balance; it does not by itself make one ES contract unaffordable. Whether an order can open also depends on current initial margin, free margin and contract limits. For the current percentages and calculations, see daily drawdown, trailing drawdown and Max Trade Loss. Use the rules assigned to your program, phase and account size.

If you traded the Upcomers CFD product, here is the mental switch to make.

The habit to unlearn: do not ask "what leverage is my account on?" On futures the right question is "what is one contract's notional, and how much margin does it tie up?" Read the CFD What Is Leverage? article for the old model, then use notional ÷ margin here.

The whole idea in one place:

Need the contract multipliers and tick values? Read Tick size and tick value explained.

Sizing a position under the rules? Read How to calculate P&L on futures and Max single trade loss.

Want the limit on how many contracts you can hold? Read Contract limits explained.