Perpetual futures: leverage, margin, funding and liquidation

Last updated: 2026-10-15

A perpetual future is a contract that follows the price of a coin and has no expiry date. You can go long (profit if the price rises) or short (profit if it falls), with leverage.

Leverage makes gains and losses larger. You can lose the margin you put into a position. Only trade with money you can afford to lose.

USDT-margined

Futures on Xoibit are USDT-margined: margin, profit and loss are in USDT. Move USDT to your Futures wallet first (see Your wallets).

Leverage and position tiers

You choose the leverage for each pair, up to that pair's maximum. Larger positions use lower maximum leverage and a higher maintenance margin, by tier. The full tier table for each pair is on Trading rules.

Initial margin = position value ÷ leverage.

Cross and isolated margin

• Isolated: each position has its own margin. Only that margin is at risk, and you can add or remove margin on the position.
• Cross: your positions share the available balance of your Futures wallet. If one position is liquidated in cross mode, all your cross positions are closed.

You choose the mode per pair. You cannot switch it while you have an open position or order on that pair.

One-way positions

You have one position per pair, either long or short. An order in the opposite direction reduces your position, closes it, or, if it is larger than the position, closes it and opens a position in the other direction.

Tick reduce-only to make sure an order can only make your position smaller. Some pairs require a position to be held for a minimum time before it can be closed or reduced.

Order types and TP/SL

• Limit, Market and Stop-limit orders.
• Take profit (TP) and stop loss (SL): set them with a new order or on an open position. They trigger on the mark price and then close at market.

Last, index and mark price

• Last price: the latest futures trade.
• Index price: the reference price of the coin, from the spot market or from large external exchanges.
• Mark price: a price based on the index price and the last price (how much each counts is set per pair). It is used for unrealized PnL, margin ratio, liquidation and TP/SL.

Funding

Perpetual futures have a funding fee every funding interval (often every 8 hours; the trading page shows the rate and a countdown). The fee is the position value at the mark price multiplied by the funding rate, and it is taken from your Futures wallet. See the funding rate on the trading page before you hold a position through a funding time.

Margin ratio and liquidation

Your margin ratio compares the maintenance margin your positions need with your margin balance. You get a warning when it reaches 80%. At 100% the position is liquidated: it is closed at market and its open orders on that pair are cancelled (in cross mode, all cross positions). Your loss can never exceed your Futures wallet balance.

Use the futures calculator on the trading page to see your liquidation price before you open a position.