Perpetual Futures FAQ

A perpetual future is a contract that tracks the price of an asset, like Bitcoin or gold, without you ever owning the asset itself. You can profit whether the price rises or falls, and unlike a traditional futures contract it never expires, so you can hold the position for as long as you keep enough margin.

No. That is the whole point of the word perpetual. A traditional futures contract settles on a fixed date, but a perp stays open indefinitely. A recurring funding payment between longs and shorts is what keeps the perp price anchored to the real market price instead of an expiry date doing that job.

Regular futures have a set expiry date and settle then, while perpetuals never expire and use funding rates to stay tied to the spot price. Perps are also usually easier to trade in small sizes and do not force you to roll a position over as an expiry approaches.

No. You are trading a contract that mirrors the asset's price, not the asset. That is why you can go short and profit when the price falls, and why you can get exposure to things like stocks or commodities without holding the real instrument.

Far more than just crypto. Alongside coins like BTC, ETH, and SOL, you can trade perps on stocks, commodities such as gold and oil, and forex pairs, all from one place. This lets you take a position on traditional markets around the clock without a broker.

Leverage lets you open a position larger than the money you put up. At 10x leverage, 100 USDC of margin controls a 1,000 USDC position. It multiplies both your profit and your loss by the same amount, so higher leverage means a smaller price move can wipe out your margin.

Low. Many new traders start at 2x to 3x, which gives price room to move without liquidating you on a normal swing. Leverage is a tool, not a target. It is usually smarter to size positions carefully at low leverage than to chase big multipliers.

Isolated margin locks a set amount of collateral to one trade, so your loss on that trade is capped at that amount. Cross margin shares your whole balance across positions, which can delay liquidation but puts your entire account at risk if a trade goes badly. Beginners are usually safer with isolated margin.

Less than most people expect, because leverage means a small margin controls a larger position. What matters more than the starting amount is position sizing and only risking a small slice of your balance per trade. Starting small while you learn is the sensible approach.

On most perp DEXs, no. Your maximum loss is the margin backing the position, because liquidation closes the trade before losses can exceed your collateral. You can still lose that entire margin quickly with high leverage, which is why position sizing and stops matter.

The funding rate is a small recurring payment exchanged directly between traders holding long and short positions. It nudges the perp price back toward the underlying market price. When the perp trades above the market, longs pay shorts, and when it trades below, shorts pay longs.

It is paid between traders, not to the platform. If you are on the crowded side of the market you usually pay funding, and if you are on the lighter side you usually receive it. The rate can be positive or negative depending on which way the market is leaning.

On Hyperliquid, which powers Perpmate, funding is settled every hour rather than every eight hours like on many exchanges. This means the cost is spread into smaller, more frequent payments, so it is worth checking the current rate before holding a position for a long time.

Usually only a little. If you are in and out within a short window you may pay or receive just one or two small funding payments. Funding adds up mostly on positions you hold for many hours or days, where it can quietly eat into profit or add to it.

It is a strategy that aims to collect funding payments while staying market neutral, typically by holding offsetting positions so price moves cancel out and the funding income remains. It is more advanced and depends on rates staying favorable, so it carries its own execution and cost risks.

Liquidation is when the platform force-closes your position because your losses have used up the margin backing it. It is a safety mechanism that stops you losing more than you deposited, but it is the worst way to exit because your margin on that trade is already gone by the time it fires.

At your liquidation price, which is set by your entry, your leverage, and your margin. Higher leverage moves that price closer to your entry, so a smaller move against you triggers it. On Hyperliquid the trigger is based on mark price, a smoothed fair value, not the last trade on the chart.

Because liquidation runs on mark price, not the last price your candles show. Mark price is a fair value blended from several major exchanges, so it can move to your liquidation level even when a single venue's candle has not printed there yet. This protects the market from manipulation and thin wicks.

A stop-loss is an exit you set yourself, so you close on your own terms and keep most of your margin. A liquidation is a forced close by the platform after your margin runs out. A stop-loss placed above your liquidation price is how you make sure you exit early rather than being liquidated.

Use lower leverage so your liquidation price sits far from your entry, always set a stop-loss above that liquidation level, and size positions so any single trade only risks a small part of your balance. Avoiding liquidation is mostly about planning your exit before you enter, not reacting once the trade goes wrong.

Decide how many dollars you are willing to lose on a trade first, then work backward from your stop-loss distance to a position size that risks only that amount. Many traders keep the risk per trade to a small percentage of their account so no single loss does real damage.

The main cost is the trading fee charged when you open and close a position, split into maker and taker rates. On top of that, funding payments apply while a position is open. Knowing both before you trade helps you judge whether a strategy is actually profitable after costs.

A maker order adds liquidity by resting on the order book, and a taker order removes liquidity by filling instantly against existing orders. Maker fees are lower, and sometimes zero or a rebate, while taker fees are higher because you are taking liquidity that was already there.

Trading fees are broadly comparable, but a perp DEX lets you trade from your own wallet with no account and no KYC, and without handing custody of your funds to the platform. For many traders the bigger difference is control and access rather than a few basis points of fees.

The core ones are market orders for an immediate fill, limit orders to buy or sell at a set price, and stop orders that trigger once price reaches a level. You can also attach a take-profit and stop-loss to a position so your exits are set the moment you enter.

A market order fills right away at the best available price, which is fast but can cost a little more through slippage. A limit order only fills at the price you choose or better, which gives you control but may not fill at all if the market never reaches it.

Mark price is the fair value your position is measured against, blended from a weighted median of major exchange prices rather than a single venue's last trade. It matters because your unrealized profit and loss, your margin, and your liquidation are all calculated on mark price, so it is the number that really governs your position.

On Hyperliquid, which powers Perpmate, yes. Stop-loss and take-profit orders trigger on mark price, the smoothed multi-exchange fair value, so a single-venue wick cannot stop you out unfairly. It also means you should place your stops relative to mark price rather than the raw candle.

Open interest is the total value of perp positions currently open in a market. Rising open interest with a price move suggests fresh money and conviction behind it, while a sharp drop often signals positions being closed or liquidated. It is a useful gauge of how crowded a trade is.

Use spot when you want to own an asset and hold it, since it can never be liquidated and has no funding cost. Use perps when you want leverage, the ability to short, or fast trades without moving the underlying around. Many traders use both for different goals.

Perps are generally more straightforward for beginners. Their profit and loss moves directly with price, whereas options add moving parts like time decay and volatility that change an option's value even when price sits still. Perps trade a lot like spot with leverage added on top.

You open a short position, which profits when the price falls. Because perps track price without you owning the asset, shorting is as simple as choosing sell instead of buy when you open the trade. The same leverage, funding, and liquidation rules apply as they do to a long.

Yes. If you hold spot assets, you can open a short perp position to offset some downside risk without selling your holdings. This lets you protect gains through a rough patch while keeping the underlying assets, though funding costs and sizing need to be managed.

No. Perpmate is wallet-based, so you connect a crypto wallet and trade without creating an account or completing identity verification. There is no signup form and no personal data collected as part of trading.

Perpmate does not include built-in technical indicators, so traders typically read price structure themselves or use their own charting tools alongside it. That keeps the focus on the fundamentals that actually protect you, namely sensible leverage, position sizing, and a planned exit.

Positions are margined in USDC, so your collateral and profit and loss are denominated in a stablecoin rather than the volatile asset you are trading. This keeps your margin value steady and makes it easier to judge your risk on any position.

Start by learning how leverage, funding, and liquidation work, then build a simple plan that defines your entry, your stop, and your position size before you trade. Beginning with low leverage and small size while you get comfortable is the safest way in.

The common causes are too much leverage, no stop-loss, and letting emotion drive decisions like chasing a move or holding a loser too long. Most blown accounts come down to poor risk management rather than bad market calls, which is why a plan matters more than a prediction.

Keep leverage low, always use a stop-loss, risk only a small part of your account per trade, and never move a stop further away just because a trade is going against you. Simple, consistent rules protect you far more than any single clever trade.

A sound starting point is trading with the broader trend at low leverage, with a clear stop and a defined profit target on every position. Avoid strategies that depend on constant chart watching or fast scalping until you have the basics of risk and sizing down.