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  "id": "perpetual-futures",
  "canonical": "https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/perpetual-futures/",
  "collection": "defi",
  "title": "Perpetual futures: price exposure without owning the underlying token",
  "description": "Understand perpetual contract exposure, funding and margin without confusing a derivatives position with owning the token.",
  "aliases": [
    "what is a perpetual futures contract",
    "perpetual contracts versus owning spot tokens"
  ],
  "dates": {
    "published": "2026-10-02",
    "modified": "2026-10-02",
    "verified": "2026-10-02T19:18:00.092Z",
    "dataAsOf": "2026-10-02"
  },
  "authorship": {
    "publisher": "Degrees of Satoshi editorial project",
    "process": "AI-assisted research and drafting with a separate automated source-verification pass; no external expert or named human review is implied."
  },
  "quickAnswer": {
    "text": "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.",
    "claimId": "perpetual-futures-quick-answer",
    "sourceIds": [
      "x425-defi-dydx-funding",
      "x425-defi-dydx-liquidation",
      "x425-defi-deribit-settlement"
    ]
  },
  "keyFacts": [
    {
      "label": "Expiry",
      "value": "A perpetual has no scheduled final expiry.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-dydx-funding"
      ],
      "id": "expiry",
      "claimId": "perpetual-futures-fact-expiry"
    },
    {
      "label": "Funding",
      "value": "Payments can move between long and short holders.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-dydx-funding"
      ],
      "id": "funding",
      "claimId": "perpetual-futures-fact-funding"
    },
    {
      "label": "Margin",
      "value": "Insufficient equity can lead to forced position reduction.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-dydx-liquidation"
      ],
      "id": "margin",
      "claimId": "perpetual-futures-fact-margin"
    }
  ],
  "prerequisites": [
    "decentralized-exchanges"
  ],
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "exposure",
      "heading": "Describe the contract before its leverage",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-dydx-liquidation",
        "x425-defi-deribit-settlement"
      ],
      "paragraphs": [
        "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."
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "ongoing",
      "heading": "No expiry still permits continuing costs and closures",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-dydx-funding",
        "x425-defi-dydx-liquidation"
      ],
      "paragraphs": [
        "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."
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "settlement",
      "heading": "Read the venue’s accounting",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-deribit-settlement"
      ],
      "paragraphs": [
        "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."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "question": "Does no expiry mean I can hold forever without paying anything?",
      "answer": "No. Funding, trading costs and margin requirements still apply, and a position can be liquidated.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "x425-defi-dydx-funding",
        "x425-defi-dydx-liquidation"
      ]
    }
  ],
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      "statement": "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.",
      "sourceIds": [
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      "sourceLocators": [
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          "locator": "Funding rates; premium; time intervals"
        },
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          "locator": "Margin; fillable price; liquidation"
        },
        {
          "sourceId": "source-ec50b60aee003176",
          "locator": "Daily settlement versus expiration"
        }
      ],
      "scope": {
        "collection": "defi",
        "dataAsOf": "2026-10-02",
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      "qualification": "",
      "evidenceStatus": "documented",
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        "reviewer": "Independent automated verification — Codex root, separate from the DeFi drafting agent",
        "notes": [
          "Checked dYdX perpetual no scheduled expiry/funding and Deribit daily realization without closure; margin is not spot-token ownership."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "perpetual-futures-fact-expiry",
      "articleSlug": "perpetual-futures",
      "statement": "Expiry: A perpetual has no scheduled final expiry.",
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        "notes": [
          "Checked dYdX perpetual no scheduled expiry/funding and Deribit daily realization without closure; margin is not spot-token ownership."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "perpetual-futures-fact-funding",
      "articleSlug": "perpetual-futures",
      "statement": "Funding: Payments can move between long and short holders.",
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        "notes": [
          "Checked dYdX perpetual no scheduled expiry/funding and Deribit daily realization without closure; margin is not spot-token ownership."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "perpetual-futures-fact-margin",
      "articleSlug": "perpetual-futures",
      "statement": "Margin: Insufficient equity can lead to forced position reduction.",
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          "locator": "Margin; fillable price; liquidation"
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        "notes": [
          "Checked dYdX perpetual no scheduled expiry/funding and Deribit daily realization without closure; margin is not spot-token ownership."
        ]
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  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "x425-defi-dydx-funding",
      "label": "Default funding rates on dYdX",
      "publisher": "dYdX Operations Services",
      "url": "https://help.dydx.trade/en/articles/166992-default-funding-rates-on-dydx",
      "locator": "Funding rates; premium; time intervals",
      "note": "Funding direction, position-sized transfers and governance-adjustable calculation.",
      "version": "Documentation retrieved for the 2026-10-02 editorial scope; content hash recorded",
      "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T18:53:20.972Z",
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    {
      "id": "x425-defi-dydx-liquidation",
      "label": "Liquidations on dYdX Chain",
      "publisher": "dYdX Operations Services",
      "url": "https://help.dydx.trade/en/articles/166991-liquidations-on-dydx-chain",
      "locator": "Margin; fillable price; liquidation",
      "note": "Distinguishes eligibility, order execution and account losses.",
      "version": "Documentation retrieved for the 2026-10-02 editorial scope; content hash recorded",
      "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T18:53:20.755Z",
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      "id": "x425-defi-deribit-settlement",
      "label": "Settlement",
      "publisher": "Deribit",
      "url": "https://support.deribit.com/api/v2/help_center/en-us/articles/29734325712413.json",
      "locator": "Daily settlement versus expiration",
      "note": "Official support article retrieved through its public API; venue-specific mechanics.",
      "version": "Support article retrieved 2026-10-02; hash recorded",
      "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T19:02:03.014Z",
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  "related": {
    "articles": [
      "perpetual-funding-payments",
      "leverage-margin-notional",
      "options-settlement-currency"
    ],
    "dossiers": [],
    "wallets": []
  },
  "revisionHistory": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-02",
      "kind": "published",
      "summary": "First publication after primary-source research and separate automated verification."
    }
  ],
  "citation": "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/"
}