1:500 leverage: the maths nobody shows you

Leverage decides how much margin is locked, not how much you lose. A 1 lot gold trade with a $3 stop loses $300 whether your leverage is 1:30 or 1:500.

What 1:500 really buys you is margin efficiency: you can hold the same position with far less capital tied up, which is why offshore accounts appeal to small-balance traders.

The danger is behavioural. Cheap margin makes oversizing effortless, and gold moves $10–$30 on a normal day. At 1 lot per $1,000 of equity, a routine session can wipe the account.

Use this instead: position size = (account × risk %) ÷ (stop in dollars per lot). Fix the risk percentage first, then let leverage be an afterthought.