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Encyclopedia DeFi · Entry 337

Perpetual futures: price exposure without owning the underlying token

AI-assisted research · separate automated verificationCorrections

Theme
DeFi
Sources
3 cited records
Reading time
About 3 minutes
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In this article

At a glance

Key facts

Key facts for Perpetual futures: price exposure without owning the underlying token
FactDetailSource
ExpiryA perpetual has no scheduled final expiry.[1]
FundingPayments can move between long and short holders.[1]
MarginInsufficient equity can lead to forced position reduction.[2]
01

Describe the contract before its leverage

A hypothetical linear contract with exposure to 2 units of an asset changes gross value by 2 quote units for each one-unit price move. Being long benefits from a rise; being short benefits from a fall. Contract multipliers and inverse settlement can change this calculation, so the instrument specification comes first.

The margin deposit supports the contract. It is not necessarily a payment purchasing two withdrawable tokens.

02

No expiry still permits continuing costs and closures

Funding can be paid or received while the position remains open. Falling equity can trigger liquidation long before a trader’s intended holding period ends. A protocol can also have market closure procedures; no scheduled expiry is not a promise of permanent trading availability.

03

Read the venue’s accounting

Deribit documents daily realization of futures and perpetual profit while non-expiring positions remain open. This is a venue-specific settlement process, distinct from final contract delivery. Another platform’s balance labels or timing may differ even when both products are called perpetuals.

Direct answers

Questions people ask

Does no expiry mean I can hold forever without paying anything?

No. Funding, trading costs and margin requirements still apply, and a position can be liquidated.

Inspect the evidence

The answer and key facts have stable claim links. These records retain the scope and qualification when reused.

A perpetual future is a derivative with no scheduled expiry. It gives long or short exposure under a contract’s margin and settlement rules, while funding payments help keep its market price near a reference price. Holding a perpetual does not give the same asset ownership or withdrawal rights as buying the underlying token.

Scope: DeFi · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T19:18:00.092Z.

Link to this claim
Expiry: A perpetual has no scheduled final expiry.

Scope: DeFi · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T19:18:00.092Z.

Link to this claim
Funding: Payments can move between long and short holders.

Scope: DeFi · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T19:18:00.092Z.

Link to this claim
Margin: Insufficient equity can lead to forced position reduction.

Scope: DeFi · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T19:18:00.092Z.

Link to this claim
Revision history
  1. — First publication after primary-source research and separate automated verification.

Source register

Sources and references

Retrieval dates and locators are recorded individually.
  1. Default funding rates on dYdXdYdX Operations Services

    Funding direction, position-sized transfers and governance-adjustable calculation.

    Locator: Funding rates; premium; time intervals · Version / scope: Documentation retrieved for the 2026-10-02 editorial scope; content hash recorded · Retrieved: 2026-10-02T18:53:20.972ZOpen source
  2. Liquidations on dYdX ChaindYdX Operations Services

    Distinguishes eligibility, order execution and account losses.

    Locator: Margin; fillable price; liquidation · Version / scope: Documentation retrieved for the 2026-10-02 editorial scope; content hash recorded · Retrieved: 2026-10-02T18:53:20.755ZOpen source
  3. SettlementDeribit

    Official support article retrieved through its public API; venue-specific mechanics.

    Locator: Daily settlement versus expiration · Version / scope: Support article retrieved 2026-10-02; hash recorded · Retrieved: 2026-10-02T19:02:03.014ZOpen source
How this article was made

Research and drafting use AI assistance. A separate automated review checks claims against primary sources; no external expert or named human review is implied. Publication, substantive editing, source retrieval and verification are recorded separately. This version was independently checked by an automated reviewer on 2 October 2026.

Editorial method and corrections

Degrees of Satoshi editorial project. “Perpetual futures: price exposure without owning the underlying token.” Published 2026-10-02; updated 2026-10-02. https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/perpetual-futures/