Perpetual futures are derivative contracts that let traders speculate on an asset's price without owning the underlying token. Unlike traditional futures, they have no expiration date and use funding rates to stay anchored to the spot price.
What It Measures
Perpetual futures — also called perpetual swaps — are the most traded derivative product in crypto. They allow traders to go long or short with leverage, amplifying both gains and losses. The key difference from traditional futures is that perpetuals never expire. Instead, a periodic funding rate payment keeps the contract price close to the spot price. When the perpetual trades above spot, longs pay shorts. When it trades below, shorts pay longs. This mechanism eliminates the need for contract rollovers.
Why It Matters
Perpetual futures account for the majority of crypto derivatives volume. They are the primary way traders express leveraged views on crypto assets. The growth of perpetual DEXs — decentralized alternatives to centralized perpetual exchanges — has been one of the biggest trends in DeFi. Protocols like Hyperliquid, Aster, Lighter, and Variational offer on-chain perpetual trading with varying mechanics around liquidity, margin, and order matching. Understanding perpetuals is essential for analyzing derivatives market data, open interest, and funding rates.
How CoinDuck Tracks It
CoinDuck tracks perpetual futures activity across multiple DEXs including Hyperliquid, Aster, Lighter, and Variational. The platform provides real-time data on trading volume, open interest, funding rates, and market data for each perpetual protocol. You can compare metrics across protocols to identify which platforms offer the best liquidity, lowest funding costs, or most active trading communities.
How do perpetual futures differ from regular futures?
Regular futures have an expiration date when the contract is settled. Perpetual futures never expire and use funding rate payments to keep the contract price anchored to the spot price.
What is leverage in perpetual futures?
Leverage lets traders control a larger position with a smaller amount of collateral. For example, 10x leverage means a $100 deposit controls a $1,000 position. Higher leverage increases both potential profits and the risk of liquidation.
What is liquidation?
Liquidation occurs when a trader's margin falls below the maintenance threshold required to keep their position open. The position is automatically closed to prevent further losses beyond the deposited collateral.
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