Learn › Perpetual Futures Guide
Updated May 2026 — 12 min read
TL;DR
A perpetual futures contract lets you trade crypto price movements — long or short — with leverage, with no expiry date. A funding rate keeps the price anchored to spot. Leverage amplifies both gains and liquidation risk. On NYXANCE, you can trade perpetuals up to 125x leverage without KYC.
A perpetual futures contract (or “perp”) is a derivative instrument that tracks the price of an underlying asset — such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Gold — and lets traders speculate on its price movement without owning the asset itself.
The key differences from traditional futures:
Perpetual futures were pioneered by BitMEX in 2016 and are now the dominant product on every major crypto exchange. Daily volume on BTC perpetuals regularly exceeds $20 billion across all platforms.
Without an expiry date, perpetual contracts need a mechanism to stay aligned with the spot price. This mechanism is the funding rate — a periodic payment made between long and short position holders, typically every 8 hours.
The logic is straightforward:
A typical funding rate is 0.01% every 8 hours (0.03% per day, ~10.95% annualized). During bull market peaks, rates can spike to 0.1% per 8-hour period — that's 0.3% per day, enough to wipe out a lightly leveraged position in weeks just from funding costs.
On NYXANCE, funding rates are displayed on every market page. Always check the current funding rate before entering a large leveraged position you plan to hold overnight.
Leverage lets you control a larger position than your account balance. On NYXANCE, you can trade BTC/USDT perpetuals with up to 125x leverage.
| Leverage | $100 Controls | 1% Price Move = | Liquidation at ~ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5x | $500 | 5% gain/loss | −20% from entry |
| 10x | $1,000 | 10% gain/loss | −10% from entry |
| 25x | $2,500 | 25% gain/loss | −4% from entry |
| 50x | $5,000 | 50% gain/loss | −2% from entry |
| 125x | $12,500 | 125% gain/loss | −0.8% from entry |
Note: Liquidation distances are approximate and depend on the maintenance margin rate of each exchange. Always check your estimated liquidation price in the order panel before entering.
Exchanges offer two margin modes that determine how much capital backs your positions:
Liquidation happens when market moves against you enough that your margin balance drops below the maintenance margin threshold. The exchange closes your position automatically.
On NYXANCE, the liquidation process works as follows:
Best practice: set a stop-loss before entering any leveraged position, and never risk more than you can afford to lose entirely.
Related Guides
A perpetual futures contract is a derivative instrument that lets you speculate on the price of a cryptocurrency without owning it. Unlike traditional futures, perpetual contracts have no expiry date — you can hold them indefinitely. They use a funding rate mechanism to keep the contract price aligned with the spot price. Traders can go long (profit if price rises) or short (profit if price falls) using leverage.
The funding rate is a periodic payment exchanged between long and short holders every 8 hours. When the perpetual contract trades above spot price (bullish market), longs pay shorts. When the contract trades below spot (bearish market), shorts pay longs. The rate is usually small (0.01% per 8 hours is typical) but can spike to 0.1%+ during extreme market conditions. Funding rates are an important cost for position holders to track.
Liquidation occurs when your margin balance falls below the maintenance margin level. The exchange automatically closes your position to prevent losses exceeding your deposited collateral. On NYXANCE, a partial liquidation system first closes part of your position to restore the margin ratio before fully liquidating. The insurance fund covers any remaining shortfall, protecting other users from losses.
Leverage lets you control a position larger than your deposited margin. At 10x leverage, $100 of margin controls a $1,000 position. A 1% price move equals a 10% gain or loss on your margin. At 125x leverage, a 0.8% adverse price move wipes your entire margin. Higher leverage amplifies both gains and losses and drastically reduces the liquidation distance from your entry price.
In cross margin mode, your entire account balance backs every open position. Profits from one position can absorb losses in another. Liquidation of one position means the exchange uses all available balance before liquidating. In isolated margin mode, you assign a fixed amount of margin to each position. A liquidation in one position does not affect others. Isolated margin gives you tighter risk control but requires manual margin top-ups if the position moves against you.
The liquidation price depends on your entry price, leverage, and the maintenance margin rate. For a long position at 10x leverage with a 0.5% maintenance margin rate, the liquidation price is approximately your entry price minus (entry price / leverage) plus (maintenance margin × entry price). Most exchanges, including NYXANCE, display your estimated liquidation price on the position panel before and after you enter a trade.
Yes. NYXANCE does not require identity verification to trade perpetual futures. You can sign up with an email address and immediately access all trading pairs with up to 125x leverage, copy trading, and all account features — without submitting personal documents.
125x leverage · No KYC · 0.02% maker fee · Copy trading available
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