Guide · gold
Gold liquidation heatmap explained
A gold liquidation heatmap marks the prices where leveraged XAUUSDT positions would be closed by force: bright bands below the price are longs, above it shorts. It is a model, not something seen in the market. This guide shows how ours is built, how far each leverage sits from the entry (a 100× gold position is liquidated by a 0.6 % move), and what 183 real gold liquidations looked like.
What the map shows
Gold perpetual futures such as XAUUSDT let traders hold positions much larger than their margin. If the price moves against a position by roughly one divided by its leverage, the exchange closes it with a market order: a liquidation. A long is closed by selling, a short by buying back. A liquidation heatmap estimates where those forced orders would sit:
- Below the price (green on our map): longs that would be sold if gold falls there.
- Above the price (violet): shorts that would be bought back if gold rises there.
- Brightness: the estimated dollar value at that price. Brighter means more.
Where gold positions get liquidated
The distance to a liquidation depends almost entirely on leverage. For a position opened at $4,000 an ounce:
| Leverage | Move that liquidates | Long opened at 4,000.00 | Short opened at 4,000.00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10× | 9.60 % | 3,616.00 | 4,384.00 |
| 20× | 4.60 % | 3,816.00 | 4,184.00 |
| 50× | 1.60 % | 3,936.00 | 4,064.00 |
| 75× | 0.93 % | 3,962.67 | 4,037.33 |
| 100× | 0.60 % | 3,976.00 | 4,024.00 |
Simplified: entry × (1 − 1/leverage + maintenance margin) for a long, entry × (1 + 1/leverage − maintenance margin) for a short, with the 0.4 % maintenance margin of the first margin tier on Bybit and OKX, and no fees or added margin. Larger positions have higher margins, so their liquidation prices sit a little closer. $4,000 is a round example, not a price level.
Gold moves less than most leveraged markets: its median weekday range over the 60 days to 27 October 2026 was about 1.8 %. A 10× position is therefore rarely reached in a single day, while a 100× position sits only about 0.6 % away and can be wiped out by an ordinary hour around the COMEX open.
How our gold heatmap is built
- Every 5 minutes we add up open interest in the gold USDT perpetuals on Binance (XAUUSDT), Bybit (XAUUSDT) and OKX (XAU-USDT-SWAP), in ounces.
- When open interest rises, new positions were opened at that window's average price. We split them into longs and shorts by the share of aggressive buying and selling on Binance in the same window.
- Each new position is spread over an assumed leverage mix and gets a liquidation price for each leverage, with a 0.4 % maintenance margin.
- When open interest falls, all open levels shrink by the same share. When the price trades through a level, it is removed.
- The page shows the result for the last 7 days (the model runs over 10), with zoom and pan, together with the real liquidations, so you can see which bands were hit.
The leverage mix is an assumption, because exchanges do not publish it: 10× (10 %), 20× (25 %), 50× (30 %), 75× (25 %) and 100× (10 %) of new positions. It is higher than for faster-moving markets, scaled to gold's smaller daily range, and capped at 100×, the highest leverage OKX allows on gold. Every step is an estimate: some traders add margin, some are hedged elsewhere. That is why the map is checked against the real gold liquidations, and the check is shown on the page.
What real gold liquidations look like
Gold liquidations are mostly small. In a sample of 183 gold liquidations that Swiftedge recorded on 26 and 27 October 2026 (Binance, Bybit and OKX; not complete days), the median was 0.07 oz (about $260) and the largest 17.2 oz (about $69,000). 113 came from OKX, 48 from Binance and 22 from Bybit, and 123 were longs. So a bright band on the map is an estimate of many small positions, not one large order, and the forced orders it would release are usually far smaller than the walls resting in the gold order book.
What is different about gold
- Weekends and the daily break. While spot gold is closed, the perpetual's index price has no spot quotes behind it and volume is thin. A move at the Sunday reopen can sweep a band without much trading before it. Gold trading sessions shows the closed hours.
- Funding every 4 hours. A high positive rate with rising open interest means many new leveraged longs, which is what fills the bands below the price: gold funding rate and gold open interest.
- Several venues, one map. Most gold liquidations in our sample came from OKX, so the map adds all three exchanges rather than using Binance alone.
How to read it
- Bands are estimates, not orders. Nothing sits in the order book at a liquidation level until it is triggered. To see orders that are really there, use the gold order book heatmap; the difference is explained in liquidation heatmap vs order book heatmap.
- Look at the real liquidations next to it. The map draws them on top, so you can see which bands were actually hit.
- Mind the clock. The same band means more during the COMEX open than on a Saturday.
See where gold liquidations sit right now.The gold liquidation heatmap is rebuilt every 5 minutes and checked against real liquidations. Free, no sign-up.
Open the gold liquidation heatmapCommon questions
Is there a free gold liquidation heatmap?
Yes. The Swiftedge gold liquidation heatmap is free, needs no sign-up and is rebuilt every 5 minutes from open interest on Binance, Bybit and OKX.
How accurate is a gold liquidation heatmap?
It is an estimate. Exchanges do not publish where each position would be liquidated, so every map rests on assumptions. Ours compares the bands with the liquidations that really happened and shows that check on the page.
What leverage does the gold map assume?
10x (10 %), 20x (25 %), 50x (30 %), 75x (25 %) and 100x (10 %) of new positions, with a 0.4 % maintenance margin. Real leverage is not public, so this is an assumption, shown openly.
Does gold move to the brightest band?
The map shows where forced orders could appear, not where the price will go. We do not claim bands act as magnets, and nothing on this page is a forecast or advice.
Where can I see real gold liquidations?
On gold liquidations today, and live on the chart in Depth for gold with the Liquidations indicator.