What Are Perpetual Contracts? A Complete Guide
Learn what perpetual contracts are, how funding rates work, leverage mechanics, and liquidation risks. A complete beginner's guide to perps.
What Are Perpetual Contracts?
تحذير المخاطر Perpetual contract trading involves substantial risk of loss due to leverage. You can lose more than your initial investment. This guide is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice.
العقد الدائم (يُسمّى أيضًا "perp" أو "perpetual swap") نوع من المشتقّات يتيح لك تداول سعر عملة مشفّرة دون امتلاكها ودون تاريخ انتهاء.
على عكس العقود الآجلة التقليدية التي تُسوّى في تاريخ محدّد، العقود الدائمة يمكن الاحتفاظ بها بلا حدّ زمني. هذا يجعلها أشهر أداة تداول في الكريبتو — تشكّل أكثر من 60% من كل حجم تداول الكريبتو.
لماذا "الدائم"؟ العقود الآجلة التقليدية تنتهي ربع-سنويًا. متداولو الكريبتو أرادوا طريقة لحمل مراكز بالرافعة دون تدحرج العقود باستمرار للانتهاء التالي. العقود الدائمة تحلّ هذا باستبدال تواريخ الانتهاء بـآلية معدّل تمويل تبقي سعر العقد مثبّتًا على السعر الفوري.
العقود الدائمة كانت من ريادة BitMEX في 2016 وأصبحت منذ ذلك المعيار عبر كل منصّة كريبتو كبرى تشمل Binance وBybit.
How Perpetual Contracts Work
Deposit Margin
Transfer collateral — usually USDT or USDC for linear perps, or BTC/ETH for inverse (coin-margined) perps — into your futures wallet. This collateral backs all positions you open.
Choose Pair & Leverage
Select a contract (e.g. BTCUSDT) and set leverage. Major exchanges allow 1x–125x on BTC/ETH; smaller alts are typically capped at 10x–20x. Higher leverage tightens your liquidation distance proportionally.
Open a Position
Go long if you expect the price to rise, short if you expect it to fall. Notional position size = margin × leverage. A $500 margin at 20x controls $10,000 of notional exposure.
Pay or Receive Funding
Most exchanges (Binance, Bybit) settle funding every 8 hours — at 00:00, 08:00, 16:00 UTC. Some venues use shorter intervals: Binance switches volatile pairs to 4-hour funding, and Hyperliquid uses 1-hour funding. You only pay or receive if you hold the position across the funding timestamp.
Close or Get Liquidated
Close manually at any time to realize P&L — there is no expiration. If your margin ratio falls below the maintenance threshold, the exchange's liquidation engine force-closes the position, usually at a worse price than the bankruptcy price.
Funding Rates Explained
✓ 📈 Positive Funding (Longs Pay Shorts)
Perp trades above the spot index — typical in bullish or euphoric markets. Longs pay shorts at each funding interval. Sustained readings above +0.05% per 8 hours (≈55% APR) signal crowded long positioning and historically precede long-squeeze cascades, as seen in April and May 2021.
✓ 📉 Negative Funding (Shorts Pay Longs)
Perp trades below the spot index — typical in capitulation or fear-driven markets. Shorts pay longs. Deeply negative funding (below −0.05% per 8h) is rarer; notable instances include March 12 2020 (COVID crash), the May 2022 Luna collapse, and the post-FTX days in November 2022.
Funding Rate Details
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Payment Frequency | Every 8 hours (00:00, 08:00, 16:00 UTC) |
| Typical Range | −0.01% to +0.03% per 8 hours |
| Annualized Impact | ~10.95% per year at 0.01% per interval |
| Calculation | Position Size × Funding Rate |
Leverage & Margin
✓ Isolated Margin Lower Risk
Only the margin allocated to a specific position is at risk. If liquidated, you lose only that margin — not your entire account balance.
✓ Cross Margin Higher Risk
Your entire account balance acts as margin for all open positions. Provides more flexibility but a single bad trade can wipe your full account.
✓ Low Leverage (2x–5x) Recommended
Recommended for beginners. Smaller amplification of gains and losses. Wider buffer before liquidation.
✓ High Leverage (20x–125x) Expert Only
Available on major pairs like BTCUSDC. Amplifies both profits and losses dramatically. Small price moves can trigger liquidation.
Liquidation Mechanics
Margin Ratio Falls
As the market moves against your position, your unrealized losses reduce your effective margin balance.
Maintenance Margin Threshold
Exchanges require a minimum maintenance margin (typically 0.5%–1% of position). When your margin falls below this, liquidation is triggered.
Position Is Closed Forcibly
The exchange's liquidation engine closes your position at the best available market price. Any remaining margin may be taken as a liquidation fee.
Insurance Fund
If your position is liquidated below the bankruptcy price, the exchange's insurance fund covers the shortfall to protect counterparties.
Perpetual vs Quarterly Futures
| Feature | Perpetual Contracts | Quarterly Futures |
|---|---|---|
| Expiration | None — hold indefinitely | Fixed date (e.g. every 3 months) |
| Price Anchoring | Funding rate mechanism | Converges to spot at expiry |
| Funding Costs | Paid every 8 hours | No funding rate |
| Premium/Discount | Kept near spot via funding | Can trade at significant premium |
| Liquidity | Very high | Moderate |
| Best For | Short to medium-term trading | Hedging, basis trading |
Trading Tips
Start with low leverage (2x–5x) until you understand liquidation mechanics.
Always set a stop-loss before opening a leveraged position.
Monitor the funding rate before entering — a high positive rate means longs are paying significantly.
Use isolated margin to cap your maximum loss per trade.
Never risk more than 1%–2% of your account on a single trade.
Track open interest and funding rates as sentiment indicators.
Understand that you do NOT own the underlying crypto when trading perps.
الأسئلة الشائعة
What is a perpetual contract in crypto?
How do funding rates work?
Can you get liquidated on a perpetual contract?
What is the difference between perpetual and quarterly futures?
Are perpetual contracts available for all cryptocurrencies?
What leverage is available on perpetual contracts?
Do I own the cryptocurrency when trading perpetual contracts?
المشتقّات والمنتجات بالرافعة — تحذير مخاطر مهم
المشتقّات أدوات مالية معقّدة تحمل مخاطرة عالية لخسارة رأس المال السريعة. التداول بالرافعة (العقود الآجلة، العقود الدائمة، تداول الهامش، الخيارات) قد يؤدّي لخسائر تتجاوز استثمارك المبدئي. غالبية حسابات مستثمري التجزئة تخسر المال عند تداول المشتقّات.
ينبغي أن تفكّر بعناية فيما إن كنت تفهم كيف تعمل المشتقّات وما إن كنت تقدر على تحمّل المخاطرة العالية لخسارة مالك. هذا المحتوى لأغراض تعليمية فقط ولا يشكّل نصيحة مالية، نصيحة استثمارية، أو توصية بتداول المشتقّات.
في الاتّحاد الأوروبي، مشتقّات الكريبتو مصنّفة كأدوات مالية بموجب MiFID II. فقط المنصّات بترخيص MiFID II مناسب يمكنها تقديم هذه المنتجات لمقيمي EU. المعالجة التنظيمية تختلف حسب الاختصاص — تحقّق من الوضع القانوني لتداول المشتقّات في بلدك قبل المشاركة.
متابعة التعلّم
ابدأ مع Binance
سجّل في دقائق وابدأ مع Binance، منصّة الكريبتو الرائدة عالميًا.
ابدأ الآنإعلان · أسعار الأصول الرقمية خاضعة لمخاطرة سوق عالية وتقلّب أسعار. لا تستثمر إلا إن كنت مستعدًّا لخسارة كل المال الذي تستثمره. الشروط وإفصاح المخاطر
هذه الصفحة تحتوي على روابط إحالة. قد نكسب عمولة إن سجّلت، دون تكلفة إضافية عليك.