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Ethereum Futures: ETH Contracts, Funding and P&L
Compare ETH perpetuals and dated Ether futures. Read contract sizes, collateral and settlement, then calculate P&L and funding costs.
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Responsible publisher: MN Media s.r.o. AI-generated contentETH contract size and margin for one Micro Ether future
Ethereum is the network; ether (ETH) is the asset underlying these contracts. A perpetual has no scheduled expiry and uses funding; a dated Ether future settles under its listed contract's rules. CME's standard Ether future represents 50 ETH, while Micro Ether represents 0.1 ETH; both are cash-settled. A crypto exchange's ETHUSDT perpetual has its own units and settlement rules. Check the instrument and contract month rather than substituting the ETH spot quote.
For one CME Micro Ether future (MET), 0.1 ETH is the contract size, not the required margin deposit. At a hypothetical futures price of 3,000 USD per ETH, one contract has 300 USD of notional exposure. The deposit is determined separately: check the current initial and maintenance margin for the exact contract and confirm your broker's requirement, including intraday or overnight conditions. The broker can require more than the exchange minimum; requirements change with risk and market conditions. Fees and losses also require funds, so there is no universal minimum account balance for every ETH futures product. For exchange perpetuals, check the exact market's minimum order quantity, quantity increment and minimum notional; the CME Micro size is not a universal order minimum.
Current CME Micro Ether margins · CME: contract size and broker margin requirements
For one CME Micro Ether future (MET), 0.1 ETH is the contract size, not the required margin deposit. At a hypothetical futures price of 3,000 USD per ETH, one contract has 300 USD of notional exposure. The deposit is determined separately: check the current initial and maintenance margin for the exact contract and confirm your broker's requirement, including intraday or overnight conditions. The broker can require more than the exchange minimum; requirements change with risk and market conditions. Fees and losses also require funds, so there is no universal minimum account balance for every ETH futures product. For exchange perpetuals, check the exact market's minimum order quantity, quantity increment and minimum notional; the CME Micro size is not a universal order minimum.
Current CME Micro Ether margins · CME: contract size and broker margin requirements
Separate the asset, collateral and settlement
An ETH price contract can be margined in a stablecoin or use crypto collateral, depending on the product. ETH collateral can lose value while an ETH long also loses, increasing risk through two channels. Linear quote-settled P&L and inverse coin-settled P&L use different formulas. Holding a future does not give you spendable ETH, staking rewards or an on-chain position. Futures basis and perpetual funding can reflect financing and hedging demand without predicting the next ETH move.
Calculate ETH quantity and net P&L
Illustrative linear long: 2 ETH at 3,000 USDT is 6,000 USDT notional. A 600 USDT initial-margin assumption means 10× initial leverage, not a recommendation. An exit at 3,100 produces 200 USDT gross P&L. At hypothetical 0.05% fees, entry costs 3.00 and exit 3.10 USDT. With one assumed funding debit of 0.60, net P&L is 193.30 USDT before other costs. A fall to 2,900 instead produces a 200 USDT gross loss. Maintenance margin and charges can force liquidation before initial margin reaches zero.
Unrealized and realized P&L, linear and inverse
The P&L on an open position is unrealized: it measures the move from your average entry price to the mark price, or to the last price where the venue lets you choose it, and it changes as that price moves. Realized P&L is booked when you reduce or close the position. The P&L documentation cited below includes the opening and closing trading fees and the funding paid or received in realized P&L, so a position that showed a small unrealized gain can close at a realized loss. For a linear, USDT-margined long, price P&L is (exit price - entry price) × position size × contract multiplier, paid in USDT. For an inverse, coin-margined long, it is (1 ÷ entry price - 1 ÷ exit price) × position size × contract multiplier, paid in the coin. Illustration with an assumed multiplier of 1 USD per contract: a long of 3,000 contracts opened at 3,000 USD and closed at 3,100 USD makes 3,000 × (1 ÷ 3,000 - 1 ÷ 3,100) ≈ 0.0323 ETH, worth about 100 USD at the exit price, before fees and funding. Multipliers differ by contract and venue, so read the one on the specification.
How funding is charged on an ETH perpetual
Funding is a periodic payment between the long and short holders of a perpetual contract, not a trading fee. When the rate is positive, longs pay shorts; when it is negative, shorts pay longs. Schedules are set per venue and per contract: the funding documentation cited below sets a default of every eight hours, at 00:00, 08:00 and 16:00 UTC, and allows a contract's interval to change in extreme volatility, while other venues use other schedules. The payment is the position's nominal value, mark price × position size, multiplied by the funding rate. In the example above, 2 ETH at a mark price of 3,000 USDT is 6,000 USDT nominal; at a funding rate of 0.01%, a long pays 0.60 USDT at that funding time and a short receives it. The same documentation says no fee is charged on funding payments and that a position closed before the funding time neither pays nor receives that funding. The rate is reset for every interval and can turn negative, so one reading is not a daily cost forecast.
Find the market data that matches the contract
Use ETH/USDT venue comparisons to discover supported markets, then inspect the product label and the exact instrument on the venue. Use the funding table for the named ETH perpetual and its actual interval; do not apply that rate to a dated CME future. For a dated position, read the expiry calendar, settlement benchmark, broker margin and the cost of closing or rolling. A continuous futures chart can splice months and is not itself an orderable contract.
How this differs from Bitcoin futures
The BTC and ETH guides share margin concepts, but contract sizes, prices, collateral haircuts, funding and liquidity are instrument-specific. One ETH contract does not carry the same exposure as one BTC contract. Compare notional and settlement units before comparing fees or margin. Ethereum-specific network events may affect ETH markets, but the futures position does not participate in network staking. Use the calculator with the selected instrument's maintenance assumptions and verify the venue's estimate.
Questions to answer before opening an ETH position
Is the instrument a perpetual with funding, or a dated future with an expiry and a settlement benchmark? What is the contract multiplier, and is P&L paid in a stablecoin, in USD or in ETH? Which asset is your margin, and does it lose value when ETH falls? What are the current funding rate and interval, and when is the next funding time? Where are the maintenance margin and the estimated liquidation price, and what would a 10% move against you cost in the settlement unit? Are maker and taker fees charged on both entry and exit? Is this venue and product available to your account where you live? If any answer is unclear, read the contract specification first. The calculators help with the arithmetic; they do not replace the venue's terms.
Sources and review scope
Product documentation and the new examples were checked on 14 September 2026. Examples use stated hypothetical inputs. Current availability, specifications and account-specific charges must be checked with the provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often is funding charged on an ETH perpetual?
It depends on the venue and the contract. The funding documentation cited on this page uses a default of every eight hours, at 00:00, 08:00 and 16:00 UTC, and allows the interval to change in extreme volatility; other venues use other schedules. Check the interval shown for the exact contract. Dated Ether futures have no funding: they settle at expiry under the listed contract's rules.
Do I pay funding if I close before the funding time?
Where funding is exchanged at fixed times, as in the funding documentation cited on this page, a position closed before the funding time neither pays nor receives that funding, and an account without a position owes none. Venues that accrue funding continuously charge or credit it for the time the position was open, so check how your venue applies funding before timing a close around it.
Why is my realized P&L lower than the unrealized P&L I saw?
Unrealized P&L measures only the price move from your entry to the mark or last price. Realized P&L, as the P&L documentation cited on this page defines it, also subtracts the trading fees for opening and closing and accounts for the funding paid or received while the position was open. If those charges exceed the price gain, a position that showed a profit can close at a loss.
Do ETH futures earn staking rewards?
No. A futures position is a contract on the price of ETH. It does not hold ETH on the network, so it earns no staking rewards and gives you no spendable ETH. Posting ETH as margin does not stake it either, and that margin can lose value at the same time as an ETH long.
Derivatives & Leveraged Products — Important Risk Warning
Derivatives and leveraged products are complex and carry a high risk of rapid, substantial losses. Depending on the product and account rules, losses can exceed the initial margin or money committed. A stand-alone purchased option can lose its entire premium plus transaction costs; writing options, exercising into another position, or combining positions can create additional obligations. An uncovered call writer can face unlimited loss. Applicable legal protections can affect the loss boundary.
You should carefully consider whether you understand how derivatives work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, investment advice, or a recommendation to trade derivatives.
Legal availability and regulatory protections depend on the product, service, provider and jurisdiction. In the EU, check the applicable investment-services rules, including MiFID II where relevant, and any product restrictions. Before trading, verify with the relevant regulator whether the provider has the permissions required for the service and whether the product may be offered to you. A website being accessible, or a product appearing on this website, does not establish authorization or eligibility.
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