What is the margin for BTC?

As of 27 Oct 2026, exchange initial margin is $97,066.20 and maintenance margin is $88,242 per contract.

Why is my broker's BTC margin different?

Brokers may require more than the exchange minimum shown here, and day-trading margins are set by brokers, not the exchange.

How often does BTC margin change?

The clearing house reviews margins continuously and changes them when volatility moves. This page is updated daily.

Bitcoin margin

Name: BTC exchange margin requirements
Creator: Front Month

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), cryptocurrency

Tick: $255 per tick
One point: $5per contract
Initial margin: $97,066.20exchange, as of 27 Oct 2026
Front contract: BTCX26roll by 19 Nov 2026

Margin as of 27 Oct 2026How we source this

Initial margin$97,066.20

Maintenance margin$88,242

Details

Contract month	November 2026
How initial is set	maintenance × 1.10 (CME speculator ratio)
Source	https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/cryptocurrencies/bitcoin/bitcoin.margins.html (effective 27 Oct 2026)
Exchange margin page	https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/cryptocurrencies/bitcoin/bitcoin.margins.html
Fetched	27 Oct 2026

Margin by contract month

Contract months	Initial	Maintenance
October 2026	$96,679	$87,890
November 2026 (front)	$97,066.20	$88,242
December 2026	$97,484.20	$88,622
January 2027	$98,010	$89,100
February 2027	$98,464.30	$89,513
March 2027	$98,857	$89,870
June 2027	$100,200.10	$91,091
September 2027	$101,525.60	$92,296
December 2027	$102,953.40	$93,594
March 2028	$104,277.80	$94,798

CME sets margins by contract month; deferred months often differ from the front month. Same source and date as above.

How exchange margin works

Margin is the deposit the clearing house requires to hold one Bitcoin (BTC) futures contract overnight. It is a performance bond, not a payment: it secures the daily settlement of gains and losses. For the November 2026 contract, the exchange initial margin is $97,066.20 and the maintenance margin is $88,242. Initial margin is what you need to open a position; if your account falls below maintenance, you will be asked to bring it back up to initial.

CME publishes maintenance margin; initial margin for speculative accounts is 1.10 times maintenance, which is how the initial figure here is derived. These are exchange minimums. Brokers set their own requirements, which are usually higher, and many offer lower intraday “day-trading” margins that apply only to positions closed before the session ends. Those broker figures are not shown here.

Clearing houses change margins whenever volatility changes, sometimes with one day's notice. This page is rebuilt daily from the clearing house's published figures; the as-of date tells you when the value was fetched, and the changes page lists every contract whose margin moved in the last seven days.

Margin for several contracts

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Questions

What is the margin for BTC?: As of 27 Oct 2026, exchange initial margin is $97,066.20 and maintenance margin is $88,242 per contract.
Why is my broker's BTC margin different?: Brokers may require more than the exchange minimum shown here, and day-trading margins are set by brokers, not the exchange.
How often does BTC margin change?: The clearing house reviews margins continuously and changes them when volatility moves. This page is updated daily.