Perp MechanicsA clearer view of derivatives.
UNDERSTAND THE MECHANICS

Perpetual Futures Guides

From funding and margin to basis and hedging: detailed explanations and worked examples to help you understand the assumptions behind a trade.

Read in sequence or start with a question. Explore hypothetical scenarios in the Workbench or use the focused calculators alongside these guides.

  1. Perpetual Futures Explained: How Crypto Perps Work, Funding, Leverage and Risk

    How crypto perpetual futures work: funding payments, leverage, margin, mark price and liquidation risk, with a fully worked BTC example including fees.

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  2. Crypto Perpetual Funding Rates Explained: Formulas, Payments and Trading Costs

    How crypto perpetual funding rates are set and paid: premium and interest formulas, venue rules, linear vs inverse payments and worked cost examples.

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  3. Perpetual vs Expiring Futures: Funding, Settlement, Basis and Trading Risk

    How perpetual and dated crypto futures differ in funding, settlement, convergence, rollover, and margin, with a fully worked 91-day BTC example.

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  4. Crypto Futures Liquidation Explained: Maintenance Margin, Mark Price and Leverage

    How crypto futures liquidation works: maintenance margin, mark-price triggers, leverage, fees and funding, with worked long, short and price-path examples.

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  5. Cross Margin vs Isolated Margin in Crypto Perpetuals: Collateral and Liquidation Risk

    How cross and isolated margin redistribute losses, margin buffers and liquidation risk across crypto perpetual positions, with three worked examples.

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  6. Mark Price vs Index Price vs Last Price in Crypto Perpetuals

    How crypto perpetual venues build index and mark prices, why the last traded price differs, and how each drives P&L, margin, liquidation and stop orders.

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  7. Linear vs Inverse Perpetual Contracts: P&L, Coin Collateral and Hidden Exposure

    How linear and inverse crypto perpetuals differ in P&L math, coin collateral, funding and hidden exposure, with three fully worked BTC examples.

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  8. Crypto Futures Basis Explained: Contango, Backwardation and Convergence

    Measure crypto futures basis with one sign convention, annualize premiums, read contango and backwardation, and see why dated futures converge but perps don't.

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  9. Crypto Cash-and-Carry Arbitrage: Spot–Futures Basis, Net Carry and Risks

    How a crypto cash-and-carry trade turns a spot–futures premium into potential profit, how to calculate net carry and return on capital, and what can break it.

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  10. Funding Rate Arbitrage in Crypto: Delta-Neutral Spot–Perp and Perp–Perp Trades

    How delta-neutral funding rate arbitrage earns or loses money: worked spot–perp and perp–perp examples with basis, 8h vs 4h funding, fees and liquidation.

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