What does the term “leverage” mean in cryptocurrency?

Leverage is the ratio of a trader's own funds to the price of the assets he wants to buy or sell. Leverage is necessary for traders to use borrowed funds in trading in order to increase their buying or selling power. This allows them to trade with much larger volumes of assets than are available. For example, a leverage of 1:4 means that a trader makes a trade that is 4 times the amount of his own funds. Sometimes the leverage can reach 1:100.