Glossary · Funding and perpetuals
Perpetual futures
A perpetual future, or perp, is a futures contract with no expiry date. Instead of converging to spot at settlement, it is held near spot by the funding rate. Perps are traded on margin, so a position can be larger than the collateral behind it.
Each venue marks positions to a mark price and liquidates them when the collateral no longer covers the maintenance margin. Most crypto derivatives volume trades in perpetuals, on centralised exchanges and on-chain venues alike.
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