Guide
Silver liquidation heatmap explained
A silver liquidation heatmap marks the prices where leveraged positions on the silver perpetual (XAG) would be closed by force: bright bands below the price are longs, bright bands above it are shorts. Ours is not a guess from open interest. It adds up the liquidation prices of real, public open positions. This guide explains how the map is built, how far each leverage sits from the entry, what is different about silver, and how to read the map next to the order book.
What the map shows
Silver perpetual futures let traders hold positions much larger than their margin. If the price moves against a position by roughly one divided by its leverage, the position is closed with a market order: a liquidation. A long is closed by selling, a short by buying back. The heatmap shows where those forced orders would hit the market:
- Below the price (green on our map): longs that would be sold if silver falls there.
- Above the price (violet): shorts that would be bought back if silver rises there.
- Brightness: the dollar value of the positions with a liquidation price at that level. Brighter means more.
Where silver positions get liquidated
The distance to a liquidation depends almost entirely on leverage. For a position opened at $50 an ounce:
| Leverage | Move that liquidates | Long opened at 50.00 | Short opened at 50.00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3× | 32.8 % | 33.58 | 66.42 |
| 5× | 19.5 % | 40.25 | 59.75 |
| 10× | 9.5 % | 45.25 | 54.75 |
| 20× | 4.5 % | 47.75 | 52.25 |
| 25× | 3.5 % | 48.25 | 51.75 |
Simplified: entry × (1 − 1/leverage + maintenance margin) for a long, entry × (1 + 1/leverage − maintenance margin) for a short, with an assumed 0.5 % maintenance margin and no fees or added margin. Real liquidation prices differ a little, which is why the map uses the price reported for each position. $50 is a round example, not a price level.
The bands nearest the price come from high leverage, the distant ones from low leverage. Silver usually moves more than gold in percentage terms, so a 20× or 25× silver position sits only an ordinary session move away, and those bands near the price are created and wiped out again all the time.
How our silver heatmap is built
- Swiftedge follows public open positions on on-chain silver perpetual futures, each with the liquidation price the exchange reports for it. Nothing is assumed about leverage: it is read from the positions.
- Every 5 minutes the positions are added up by liquidation price: longs below the price, shorts above.
- A position that is closed or liquidated leaves the map. One column is kept every 15 minutes, for up to seven days.
- The live page compares what the map had waiting at the prices the market reached with the liquidations that really happened, and prints the score next to a baseline, so you can judge the map yourself.
This is part of the market, not all of it: positions Swiftedge does not follow, and positions on other venues, are not on the map, so every total is a lower bound. The leverage mix of the positions on the map is printed on the live page and changes as traders open and close positions.
What is different about silver
- A 24/7 perpetual on a weekday market. Spot and COMEX silver close from Friday 17:00 to Sunday 18:00 New York time, and for a daily hour from 17:00 to 18:00 New York. The perpetual keeps trading, usually on thin volume, so when the main market reopens the price can jump through bands at once. Silver trading sessions lists every time.
- The busy hours. The LBMA silver price is set at 12:00 London and COMEX silver opens at 08:25 New York (17:30 and 18:55 IST in winter). Volume and volatility pick up around both, which is when bands near the price are most often reached.
- A thinner book than gold. The silver order book usually holds less dollar value near the price than the gold book. When a band of forced orders is triggered, there may be less resting liquidity to absorb it. Check what is really resting there in the silver order book heatmap.
How to read it
- Bands are forced orders waiting to happen, not orders in the book. Nothing rests in the order book at a liquidation price until it is triggered. To see the orders that are really there, use the Silver order book heatmap; the difference is explained in liquidation heatmap vs order book heatmap.
- Watch the real liquidations next to it. The Liquidations indicator in Silver Depth draws every real liquidation on the live chart, so you can see which bands were hit.
- Check funding, open interest and positioning. Rising open interest with high funding means new leveraged longs, which is what fills the bands below the price: silver funding rate, silver open interest and Silver Positioning.
See where silver liquidations sit right now.The live map is rebuilt every 5 minutes from public open positions and checked against real liquidations. Free, no sign-up.
Open the silver liquidation heatmapCommon questions
Is there a free silver liquidation heatmap?
Yes. The Swiftedge silver liquidation heatmap is free, needs no sign-up and is rebuilt every 5 minutes from the liquidation prices of public open positions.
How accurate is the silver liquidation heatmap?
It shows real positions, but only part of the market, so the totals are a lower bound. The live page compares the map with the liquidations that really happened and prints the score next to a baseline.
Why do bands disappear?
A band shrinks or disappears when the positions behind it are closed, have margin added or are liquidated. When price trades through a band, the positions there are usually liquidated, so they leave the map.
Does silver 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 silver liquidations?
Live on the chart in Silver Depth with the Liquidations indicator, next to the order book heatmap and the trades.
Why does silver reach liquidations faster than gold?
Silver usually moves more than gold in percentage terms, so the same leverage is reached by a smaller share of a normal day. A position that would survive a quiet gold session can be closed by an ordinary silver move around the COMEX open.
I trade MCX silver. Is this useful?
MCX silver follows the international silver price, so forced buying and selling in the global market moves the price MCX follows. MCX silver order flow shows the global silver order book in rupees and IST.