Leverage is easiest to understand with a worked example. The numbers below are illustrative only.
An example
Suppose an account holds $1,000 and opens one mini lot (10,000 units) of EUR/USD. At a price around 1.08 the position is worth about $10,800 — roughly 10.8 times the account. A move of 100 pips changes the position’s value by about $100, or 10% of the account.
The same move on one standard lot (100,000 units) would be about $1,000 — the entire account.
Margin is not risk
The margin a broker requires is a deposit to open the position, not the maximum you can lose. Risk is defined by position size and how far price moves against you before you exit.
Practical takeaway
Choose position size from the amount you are prepared to lose if the stop-loss is hit, not from the maximum leverage the broker allows.