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Trading Math

How to Calculate Position Size on Crypto

On a crypto CFD one lot is usually one coin, so a one-dollar move in the coin is one dollar on the lot, and the leverage is usually a tenth of what a currency pair gets. This paper shows you what one lot is and what a dollar of move is worth on it, one real day of bitcoin at three sizes, the sizing sum in dollars a coin, and the three specification lines on your platform that set the size.

Difficulty
Advanced
Reading time
5 min
Pages
7
Reviewed by
Saman Rahbar

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One coin, a dollar a dollar

A crypto CFD is a contract on the coin's price, and on most platforms one lot is one coin. At the open of 3 September 2026 bitcoin was 77,368 dollars, so one lot was $77,368 of coin. The leverage on crypto is usually one to ten — the broker holding back a tenth and lending the rest — rather than the one to a hundred or more a currency pair gets, so $7,737 of that lot was held back. The step is a dollar a dollar: the coin moves one dollar, the lot moves one dollar. On 3 September the coin moved $4,092 in a day, and so did the lot.

One real day, three sizes

Here is the size on a real day. Bitcoin opened at 77,368 and closed at 81,460, a rise of $4,092 a coin. On one lot that day was $4,092. On a tenth of a lot it was $409.20. On the smallest size most brokers allow, a hundredth of a lot — a hundredth of a coin — it was $40.92. The move per coin is the day and the coins are the size; the money is one times the other, and the numbers are large because the coin's price is.

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