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Perpetual trading means trading a contract that follows the price of an asset, without owning the asset itself. For example, you can trade the price of BTC or ETH without buying real BTC or ETH into your wallet balance. You are trading price exposure, not the coin. These contracts are called “perpetuals” because they do not have an expiry date. Unlike traditional futures, they can stay open as long as your position has enough margin to support it. In Entry Finance, perpetual trading uses the Perpetuals balance shown in Spot and perpetuals balances.

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Why it matters

Perpetual trading gives traders more flexibility than spot trading. You can:
  • profit if the price goes up by opening a long
  • profit if the price goes down by opening a short
  • use leverage to control a bigger position with less capital
  • hedge a spot portfolio when the market looks weak
This is why perpetuals are popular with active traders. At the same time, they are riskier than spot because losses can grow faster.

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Why perpetuals feel different from spot

Spot traders usually think in simple ownership terms: buy the asset, hold it, sell it later. Perpetual traders think differently because the position is an exposure with:
  • leverage
  • margin requirements
  • liquidation risk
  • funding over time
That means a perp position has to be actively managed even if the trader does not plan to touch it every hour.

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Simple example

Imagine BTC is trading at 60,000 USDC. You open a perpetual long with:
  • 100 USDC of margin
  • 5x leverage
That gives you a position size of 500 USDC. If BTC rises by 2%, your position gains about 10 USDC before fees and funding. If BTC falls by 2%, your position loses about 10 USDC. The important part is that your profit and loss are based on the full position size, not only on the margin you put in.

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One more thing: funding

Perpetual markets usually use a funding mechanism to keep the contract price close to the spot price. In practice, funding matters most when you hold a position through one or more funding windows instead of opening and closing quickly. The trader-level idea is simple:
  • funding can add a cost or a credit over time
  • larger positions feel the effect more
  • overnight holds are affected more than quick trades
In Entry Finance, funding is visible directly in the terminal:
  • the market list shows 8h Funding
  • the market header shows Funding Rate and Next Funding
  • the Positions tab includes funding-related information for live perps
  • Funding History lets you review payments or receipts after they happen
So if you are deciding whether to hold a position longer, do not look only at price and leverage. Also check whether the current funding environment still makes the trade worth keeping open. If you want the full practical guide, including when funding is applied and how to think about overnight carry, read Funding rate and payments.

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Holding a perpetual position overnight

Because perpetuals do not expire, you can keep the trade open beyond the current session. But holding overnight is not the same as simply doing nothing. When a trader carries a perp position longer, several things continue to matter while the trade is open:
  • unrealized PnL keeps changing with market price
  • liquidation risk can move as the market moves
  • funding can add a cost or a credit at each funding window
  • available margin can change if the account is in Cross
This is why holding a perpetual position overnight should be treated as an active risk decision, not as a neutral default.

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What “rolling” or “carrying” the position really means

Traditional futures have expiry dates. Perpetuals do not. So in practice, “carrying” the position means:
  • you keep the same exposure open
  • the position remains subject to margin and liquidation rules
  • funding continues to matter each time the next funding event arrives
There is no expiry rollover in the classic futures sense, but there is still ongoing carry cost or carry benefit while the position remains open.

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What to check before keeping a perp open longer

Before you decide to carry the position:
  1. Check the current Funding Rate.
  2. Check Next Funding in the market header.
  3. Re-check your stop-loss and liquidation distance.
  4. Decide whether the trade still makes sense if funding is applied one or more times before your planned exit.
This is especially important if:
  • the position uses high leverage
  • the trade is already close to invalidation
  • the expected edge is small relative to potential carry cost

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A practical overnight checklist

If you plan to leave a perp open after your active session ends, review:
  • whether the stop-loss is still at the right level
  • whether the position size is still appropriate
  • whether the funding environment still supports the trade
  • whether the remaining margin buffer is still comfortable
For many traders, the mistake is not only entering the wrong perp trade. It is carrying the right trade for too long under worse funding or tighter risk conditions than originally planned. If you want to see how perpetual orders are actually placed in Entry Finance, continue to Open positions and orders.