How Leverage Works

Overview

Leverage on Amplifi lets you control a larger position than your deposited margin. At 5x leverage, a $10 deposit controls a $50 position. The additional $40 is borrowed from a lending pool and must be repaid when the position closes.

On supported markets, leverage applies to real Polymarket outcome shares held in your deposit wallet — not perpetual contracts.

How it works

1. You deposit $10 as margin
2. You select 5x leverage on a market priced at $0.50
3. Amplifi borrows $40 from the lending pool
4. Your deposit wallet buys 100 shares at $0.50 ($50 total)
5. If the price rises to $0.60, your shares are worth $60 — a $10 profit on $10 margin (100% return vs. 20% at 1x)
6. If the price drops to your liquidation price, Amplifi sells your shares, repays the $40 loan, and returns remaining equity

Leverage caps

Maximum leverage depends on several factors:

Price-based caps

Leverage is capped separately for each outcome. Lower-priced shares usually have lower caps because small price moves represent larger percentage swings.

The market's current policy selects a price-tier curve and may also require a minimum number of price ticks between entry and the bad-debt price. That tick constraint is price / (minimum ticks × tick size), bounded by the policy's price ceiling. It can produce fractional caps, such as 2.5x; the ticket may offer fewer selectable steps. A single fixed price table does not describe every market.

Per-market-type parameters

Maximum leverage, liquidation buffer (L1), and depth requirements are configured per market. More specific market or group policies can override category defaults, so two markets in the same category can have different limits. Parameters can change as conditions change.

Read the current Yes and No caps from the market-data API, then request an order preview for the chosen side, amount, and leverage. The preview supplies the estimated liquidation price and the constraints for that order; the open endpoint checks them again at execution.

Additional caps

• Spread-based: If the bid-ask spread is wide, max leverage is reduced. Formula: floor(1 / (4 × spread)), clamped between 1x and 10x.
• Depth-based: The orderbook must have sufficient bid-side depth relative to your position size. Thin books reduce available leverage.
• Low-volume markets: A configured 24-hour volume threshold applies an additional leverage cap. The threshold and cap can differ by policy, and the cap can be 1x (no borrowing). Check the current API values and cap explanation rather than assuming a universal $50k / 2x rule.

P&L math

Long position (buying Yes shares):

Profit = (exitPrice - entryPrice) × shares - fees
ROI    = Profit / margin

At 5x leverage, a 10% price increase yields a 50% return on your margin (before fees and interest).

Important: Losses are also amplified. A 10% price decrease at 5x leverage means a 50% loss on your margin.

Liquidation

Every leveraged position has a liquidation price. If the market price reaches this threshold, Amplifi automatically closes the position to protect the lending pool.

The liquidation price is not static — it adjusts based on:

• Accrued interest on the loan
• Current orderbook depth
• CLOB taker fees

See Risk Engine and Liquidations for the full breakdown.