Perpetual futures

Perpetual futures are derivative contracts that let traders bet on an asset's price with leverage but never expire, unlike traditional futures with a set settlement date. This matters because it's how most crypto traders take large directional bets or hedge positions without ever touching the underlying coin, and it's where a huge share of daily trading volume actually happens. To keep the contract price tied to the spot market, exchanges use a "funding rate," a periodic payment between long and short traders. On Binance, a trader could open a $10,000 long position on BTC perpetuals using just $1,000 of margin at 10x leverage, paying or receiving funding every eight hours depending on which side is crowded.