Crypto derivatives let you trade contracts linked to an asset’s price, rather than simply buy the asset. They can provide long or short exposure and, where supported, hedging tools. They also introduce margin and liquidation, which makes understanding the contract more important than choosing the highest available leverage.
Perpetual futures, dated futures and options
- Perpetual futures have no fixed expiry and commonly use funding payments between traders.
- Dated futures settle or expire on a specified date.
- Options give their buyer a right to buy or sell under defined terms, including a specified price and expiry date.
Not every platform offers all three. Some interfaces provide access to perpetual trading alongside other features, while others specialize in one type of contract. Check the underlying venue and product rules as well as the interface.
Compare collateral and position controls
Collateral is the asset you commit to support a position. With isolated margin, a position generally has its own allocated collateral. Cross margin shares support across eligible positions, so losses in one can affect others. Compare supported collateral, maintenance requirements, liquidation calculations and controls for closing or reducing exposure.
Trading fees and funding can affect holding costs. A funding payment can change direction and amount over time; it is separate from the fee paid to enter or exit a trade.
Choose markets and execution features together
Review order-book depth or available pool liquidity, spreads, market coverage and supported limit or conditional orders. The mark price used for risk calculations may differ from the last traded price. Regional availability and account requirements also vary.
Trading tools can help with charts and order management. If you only want to exchange tokens without margin, spot trading on a DEX is a different workflow. Leveraged losses can rapidly exhaust collateral.