Coin‑margined perpetual contract

Last updated: 12/30/2025

1. Basic Concept

In coin-margined contract trading, positions are denominated in the underlying cryptocurrency (e.g., BTC, ETH), and margin, profit, and loss are all calculated in the same asset.Traders can open long or short positions to participate in price fluctuations of the underlying asset.Each contract is valued in USD (1 contract = 1 USD) and can be leveraged to increase position size.Perpetual contracts have no expiration date (except for coin-margined delivery contracts) and can be held long-term.

2. Mark Price and Index Price

Mark Price is used to calculate unrealized P&L and liquidation risk, preventing unreasonable liquidations caused by abnormal market trades.
Index Price is calculated based on a weighted average of prices from multiple major spot markets (e.g., Kraken, Bitfinex, Coinbase) for BTC/USD or ETH/USD and does not use USDT markets.
Since coin-margined contracts are denominated in USD, the index price is sourced from USD spot markets, not USDT or other stablecoin markets.

3. Funding Fee Mechanism

Coin-margined perpetual contracts, like USDT-margined contracts, use a funding rate mechanism to keep contract prices close to the spot market.Funding fees for coin-margined perpetual contracts are collected in the underlying cryptocurrency, not USDT.

4. Example Calculation

Assume BTC is trading at $30,000 and you open a BTC perpetual long position worth $10,000 with 50× leverage:

Position Notional Value = 10,000 ÷ 30,000 = 0.3333 BTC
Initial Margin = 10,000 ÷ 30,000 ÷ 50 = 0.00667 BTC

This means you only need to pay approximately 0.00667 BTC as margin to hold a position worth $10,000.

4.1 Example: Long (Bullish) Position

If BTC rises to $40,000:
- Profit/Loss (BTC) = Position Notional × (1/Entry Price − 1/Exit Price)
- = 10,000 × (1/30,000 − 1/40,000) = +0.0833 BTC
- With an initial margin of 0.00667 BTC, you gain approximately 0.0833 BTC, a return of ~1,250% (excluding fees and funding).

Item	Calculation Formula	Example Result
Position Notional Value	Contract Value ÷ Underlying Price	10,000 ÷ 30,000 = 0.3333 BTC
Initial Margin	Notional Value ÷ Leverage	10,000 ÷ 50 = 200 USD = 0.00667 BTC
Profit/Loss (BTC)	Notional Value × (1/Entry Price − 1/Exit Price)	+ 0.0833 BTC
Return	Profit/Loss ÷ Margin	0.0833 ÷ 0.00667 ≈ 1,250%

4.2 Example: Short (Bearish) Position

If BTC drops to $29,000:
- Profit/Loss (BTC) = 10,000 × (1/30,000 − 1/29,000) = −0.0115 BTC
- The position would show a floating loss of ~−172%, potentially triggering liquidation.

5. Difference Between Coin-Margined and USDT-Margined Contracts

Pricing Unit:
- USDT-margined contracts are denominated, margined, and settled in USDT.
- Coin-margined contracts are denominated, margined, and settled in the underlying asset, e.g., BTC/USD perpetual uses BTC as the margin currency.
Contract Size:
- USDT-margined contracts: each contract represents a small unit of the underlying asset (e.g., BTC/USDT contract = 0.001 BTC per contract)
- Coin-margined contracts: each contract has a fixed value of 1 USD
Profit & Loss Calculation:
- USDT-margined contracts: P&L is calculated in USDT
- Coin-margined contracts: P&L is calculated in the underlying asset and has a “reverse contract” feature:
  - When going long in a rising market, P&L benefits from a double-effect, resulting in higher gains than USDT-margined contracts
  - When going short in a falling market, losses are also amplified, resulting in greater losses than USDT-margined contracts

6. Position Overview

Terms	Explanation
Amount	The amount of the coin-margined contract is calculated in the number of contracts, with 1 contract equivalent to 1 USD. Long positions are represented by positive amounts, while short positions are represented by negative amounts.
Value	The value of the coin-margined contract is calculated in terms of the underlying currency. Position Value = 1 / Mark Price × Amount.
Entry Price	The average price for opening a position changes with each increase or decrease in the user's position. Example: You have a coin-margined BTC/USD futures position, going long for 1,000 contracts. Your entry price is 50,000 USD. An hour later, you decide to add 2,000 more contracts with an entry price of 60,000 USD. Then: Average Entry Price = Total No. of Contracts / Total Value of BTC Contracts Total No. of Contracts = 1,000 + 2,000 = 3,000 Total Value of BTC Contracts = (1,000 / 50,000) + (2,000 / 60,000) = 0.053333334 BTC Average Entry Price = (3,000 / 0.053333334) = 56,250.00 USD
Mark Price	The current mark price of a coin-margined contract.
Liquidation Price	See the section on liquidation price calculation.
Margin	Current Position Margin = Initial Margin + Unrealized PNL + Frozen Fees + Added Margin
Position Leverage	Actual Position Leverage = Position Value / Margin
Unrealized PNL	Users can choose whether unrealized PNL is calculated using the mark price or the last traded price. Unrealized PNL for Multiple Positions = Amount × (1 / Average Entry Price - 1 / Mark Price or Latest Fill Price) Unrealized PNL of Empty Positions = Amount × (1 / Mark Price or Latest Fill Price - 1 / Average Entry Price) Long position example You have a coin-margined BTC/USD futures position, going long for 1,000 contracts. Your entry price is 50,000 USD. When the latest mark price is 55,000 USD, the unrealized PNL will be displayed as 0.001818 BTC. Unrealized PNL = No. of Contracts × [(1 / Average Entry Price) - (1 / Mark Price)] = 1,000 × [(1 / 50,000) - (1 / 55,000)] = 0.001818 BTC Short position example You have a coin-margined BTC/USD futures position, going short for 1,000 contracts. Your entry price is 50,000 USD. When the latest mark price is 45,000 USD, the unrealized PNL will be displayed as 0.02223 BTC. Unrealized PNL = No. of Contracts × [(1 / Mark Price) - (1 / Average Entry Price)] = 1,000 × [(1 / 45,000) - (1 / 50,000)] = 0.002222 BTC Note: The calculation of unrealized PNL does not include any trading fees or funding fees incurred during the opening, closing, or holding of positions.
ROI	ROI = Unrealized PNL / Initial Margin
Realized PNL	Realized PNL = ∑(PNL From Reducing Positions) - Trading Fees - Total Funding Fees Since Opening The realized PNL includes all trading fees, funding fees, and the profit and loss realized from partially closing the position (the same formula as unrealized PNL). Example: You have a coin-margined BTC/USD futures position, going short for 1,000 contracts. Your entry price is 50,000 USD. You close 500 contracts of the position at a price of 45,000 USD, with a partial position of 500 contracts remaining. • Partial Position PNL: 500 × [(1 / 45,000) - (1 / 50,000)] = 0.001117778 BTC • Position Opening Fee: (1,000 / 50,000) × 0.06% = 0.000012 BTC • Position Closing Fee: (500 / 45,000) × 0.06% = 0.000006667 BTC • Total Funding Fee Paid: 0.00005 BTC Realized PNL = 0.001117778 - 0.000012 - 0.000006667 - 0.00005 = 0.001049111 BTC

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