Perpetual futures, explained
A futures contract with no expiry date, the product that most Hyperliquid volume runs through.
A perpetual future (perp) is a contract that tracks an asset's price with no expiry date, so you can go long or short with leverage and hold as long as your margin lasts. On Hyperliquid, perps are margined in USDC, pay funding every hour, and allow up to 40x leverage on BTC; core perps traded about $6.99B in the 24 hours to 4 November 2026.
A perpetual future, usually shortened to perp, is a bet on a price that you can hold for as long as you like. You can bet the price goes up (a long) or goes down (a short), and you can use leverage: control a position bigger than the money you put down.
Perps are the main product on Hyperliquid. Almost all of the exchange’s volume runs through them, from bitcoin to oil and S&P 500 contracts listed by outside teams.
How a perp works, step by step
Think of it as a running bet with the exchange’s clearinghouse standing in the middle. Say you deposit $1,000 of USDC and open a 5x long on ETH:
- You choose a size and leverage. 5x on $1,000 means a $5,000 position. The margin locked for it (the initial margin) is position size times mark price divided by leverage: $5,000 / 5 = $1,000.
- Your profit and loss follow the price. If ETH rises 2%, your $5,000 position gains $100, which is 10% of your margin. If ETH falls 2%, you lose $100.
- Every hour, you pay or receive funding. When perps trade above the underlying price, longs pay shorts; when below, shorts pay longs. See funding rates.
- If losses eat your margin, you get liquidated. When your account value drops below the maintenance margin, Hyperliquid closes the position. See liquidation.
- You close whenever you want. There is no expiry date. You exit by trading the opposite way.
Hyperliquid’s docs give the reason perps won: compared with dated futures, all liquidity sits in one contract that never expires, so nobody has to roll positions; compared with options, there is no splitting across strikes and dates.
Hyperliquid’s contract, in plain terms
From the contract specifications:
| Spec | What it means |
|---|---|
| Linear perpetual, 1 contract = 1 unit of the asset | 1 BTC perp moves $1 per $1 move in bitcoin |
| Collateral: USDC | You post USDC as margin and get paid in USDC |
| Price reference: USDT-denominated oracle (USDC for HYPE and PURR) | The index is built from exchange prices quoted in USDT; no USDC/USDT conversion is applied |
| Funding: every hour | Paid at one eighth of an 8-hour rate each hour |
| Initial margin | 1 / the leverage you set |
| Maintenance margin | Half of the initial margin at the market’s maximum leverage |
| Margin modes | Cross (shared) or isolated (per position) |
| Max market order | $30M where max leverage is 25x or more, down to $500K for low-leverage markets |
Live numbers, 4 November 2026
From the Hyperliquid info API at 07:27 UTC.
| Core perp markets | 235 listed, 179 live |
| 24h volume, core perps | ~$6.99B |
| Open interest, core perps | ~$10.7B |
| Biggest by volume | BTC $3.30B, ETH $1.09B, HYPE $1.04B |
| Maximum leverage offered | 3x, 5x, 10x, 20x, 25x or 40x depending on market |
| Funding on BTC, ETH, HYPE | 0.00125% per hour (the baseline rate) |
Builder-deployed markets such as stock, index and commodity perps run on the same engine but in separate “dexes” with their own margin. See HIP-3 and the markets list.
Leverage, without the marketing
Leverage doesn’t change how much the asset moves. It changes how much of your margin each move represents.
| Leverage | Price move against you that wipes out your initial margin |
|---|---|
| 2x | ~50% |
| 5x | ~20% |
| 10x | ~10% |
| 20x | ~5% |
| 40x | ~2.5% |
In practice you are liquidated before that point, because the maintenance margin has to stay in the account. On BTC (max 40x) maintenance is 1.25% of the position; on a 3x-max market it is about 16.7%.
Larger positions get lower caps through margin tiers: BTC allows 40x up to $150M of position value, then 20x; ETH 25x up to $100M, then 15x.
Cross or isolated?
- Cross margin (the default) pools your whole perps balance behind all your cross positions. Profits on one position help support another. A bad enough loss, though, can liquidate everything in the cross account.
- Isolated margin ring-fences a fixed amount for one position. Only that margin is at risk, and you can add or remove margin later.
- Strict isolated markets work like isolated, except you can’t withdraw margin from an open position.
The funding and margin explainer walks through a worked example of each.
Why it matters to you
- You can short as easily as you go long, which makes perps useful for hedging a coin you already hold.
- Costs are small but continuous. Fees are charged when you trade; funding is charged every hour you hold. On a long held for months, funding can outweigh fees. Check current rates on our funding data.
- Leverage is a setting, not a target. Lower leverage in cross margin doesn’t move your liquidation price; it only means more of your balance is used. The size of the position relative to your account is what matters.
- Fees can be cut. A referral code takes 4% off your fees for the first $25M of volume, and staking HYPE cuts fees 5% to 40%. Model it with the fee calculator.
What can go wrong
- Liquidation. A fast move can close your position and keep the maintenance margin. At high leverage that can happen within minutes.
- Funding drag. In a crowded trade, funding can run far above the baseline and cost a large share of your margin over days.
- Mark price, not last trade. Liquidations and stop-losses trigger on the mark price, a blend of Hyperliquid and other exchanges’ prices. It can differ from the last trade you see, especially in volatile moments.
- Thin markets. Small coins and many builder-deployed markets have little depth; large orders slip.
- Access. Hyperliquid’s terms restrict the United States, Ontario and other jurisdictions.
Ready to try a small position? Start with how to start trading on Hyperliquid, and read liquidation before you pick a leverage.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a perp and a normal futures contract?
A normal futures contract expires on a set date and settles. A perp never expires; instead, an hourly funding payment between longs and shorts keeps its price close to the underlying asset. That means no rolling positions from one month to the next.
Do I own the coin when I buy a perp?
No. A perp is a contract that pays you the price change, not the asset itself. Going long 1 BTC perp gives you the profit or loss of 1 BTC, but you hold USDC margin, not bitcoin. To own the token, buy it on the spot market.
What is the maximum leverage on Hyperliquid?
It depends on the market. As of 4 November 2026, core markets offered 3x, 5x, 10x, 20x, 25x or 40x maximums, with 40x on BTC (for positions up to $150M) and 25x on ETH. Larger positions get lower caps through margin tiers.
How much does it cost to trade perps on Hyperliquid?
At the entry fee tier, 0.045% of the trade value for taker orders and 0.015% for maker orders, plus or minus hourly funding while you hold. A $10,000 market order costs $4.50 in fees. A referral code takes 4% off fees on your first $25M of volume.
Can I lose more than I deposit?
Losses are bounded by the collateral backing the position: liquidation closes positions as margin runs out, and if an account still ends up below zero, auto-deleveraging closes profitable positions on the other side to cover the gap rather than creating a debt. In a cross-margin account, though, a liquidation can take your entire cross balance, not just the margin for one trade.