In this post:
- Leverage.Trading found that U.S. retail traders ran about twice as many liquidation risk checks per trader as the global average during peak volatility last year.
- The firm discovered that retail traders began validating liquidation risk earlier in the market cycle, rather than reacting after forced exits accelerated.
- The research revealed that U.S. traders ran roughly twice as many liquidation and margin checks per trader as the global average during peak volatility.
Leverage.Trading found that U.S. retail traders ran about twice as many liquidation risk checks per trader as the global average during peak volatility last year. The firm argued that the pattern suggests a more defensive and verification-first approach among U.S. users during unstable market conditions.
The research is based on a new behavioral data report released on Wednesday that analyzes how retail crypto derivatives traders assessed liquidation risk during high-volatility periods in 2025. The independent research and education publisher also revealed that the dataset includes approximately 880,000 pre-trade risk checks across more than 190 countries. The firm based the research on anonymized usage data from its risk calculators between August and December 2025.
Leverage.Trading identifies a consistent behavioral shift across volatility periods in 2025
Leverage.Trading found that retail traders began validating liquidation risk earlier in the market cycle, rather than reacting after forced exits accelerated. The publisher also noted that the data shows that traders frequently checked liquidation levels before the largest liquidation waves unfolded.
The firm determined that the checks appeared hours or days before major liquidation waves reached their peak. The research publisher also observed that the pattern repeated across several high-volatility windows between August and December.
“What stands out in the 2025 data is that parts of retail aren’t just reacting to liquidations anymore – they’re increasingly checking position survivability before volatility fully unfolds.”
–Anton Palovaara, Founder of Leverage.Trading
Palovaara also noted that increases in risk checks often occurred hours or days before the largest liquidation events. He maintained that the data doesn’t suggest traders predicted price direction, but rather that they became more cautious about downside exposure while broader market stress was still building.
Leverage.Trading also noted another pattern, which began with a surge in liquidation checks as volatility rose, followed by traders reviewing margin requirements and adding funds to keep positions open. The report found that traders only began reviewing funding costs and holding expenses later.
The firm revealed that the sequence appeared during multiple volatility spikes, arguing that it indicates growing awareness of leverage risk among parts of the retail market. Leverage.Trading also believes that the behavior suggests a move away from purely reactive trading toward early risk validation.
Retail crypto trading differs between global traders and U.S. traders
Leverage.Trading discovered that U.S. traders ran roughly twice as many liquidation and margin checks per trader as the global average during peak volatility. Global users followed the same overall pattern but shifted back toward position building sooner once volatility cooled. The report found that trading activity outside the U.S. normalized faster after major market swings.
The report also revealed that U.S. traders accounted for roughly 8-12% of total recorded activity during the study period. The firm argued that the findings suggest that regional risk culture may influence how traders respond when volatility accelerates.
According to the research, mobile usage dominated during the fastest price swings as traders checked liquidation risk in real time. Mobile accounted for about 58% of global risk checks during the study period, with mobile usage for U.S. users surging to approximately 63%.
The firm observed that traders moved to desktop devices for deeper position analysis and collateral adjustments. Leverage.Trading said the pattern suggests a two-stage process where the initial defense happened quickly on mobile, while structured position management followed on desktop.
