PolyTerminal
What a perpetual future is
A perpetual future, or perp, is a contract that follows the price of an underlying asset. If you are long, you gain when the price rises and lose when it falls. If you are short, it is the other way round. A Polymarket Perps position has no expiry date. It stays open until you close it, until the exchange liquidates it, or until the market itself is retired.
A normal future settles on a fixed date, which pulls its price toward the asset. A perp has no settlement date, so something else has to hold its price close to the asset. That something is funding, a payment between longs and shorts that is covered in its own section below. The documentation describes one case in which a perp does settle, the retirement of a market: the changelog says Polymarket can put a market into close-only mode and later settle and delist it, and in a retired market remaining positions close at the final settlement price.
Perps are not prediction markets. A prediction market share ends at 1 or 0 once an event is decided. A perp has no event and no 1 or 0 payout. Its value moves with the asset price and is shaped by funding and margin rules.
What you can trade
Polymarket lists Perps on crypto assets, stocks, indices and commodities. The public instrument list held 89 markets on Oct 19, 2026:
| Category | Markets | Maximum leverage |
|---|---|---|
| Crypto | 41 | 3x to 50x |
| Equity | 38 | 10x |
| Index | 6 | 10x to 50x |
| Commodity | 4 | 20x |
Perps markets by category (public instrument list). Source: api.perpetuals.polymarket.com/v1/info/instruments, checked .
Maximum leverage is set for each market. In most markets it also falls as your position grows, in steps called leverage tiers: the more position value you hold, the lower the leverage you may use. A few markets have only one tier; the Perps in numbers post names them. BTC-USD is a market with tiers, and it starts at the highest cap in the list:
| Position value from | Maximum leverage |
|---|---|
| $0 | 50x |
| $250,000 | 25x |
| $1,000,000 | 20x |
| $2,500,000 | 15x |
| $5,000,000 | 12x |
| $7,500,000 | 5x |
| $10,000,000 | 2x |
BTC-USD leverage tiers by position value. Source: api.perpetuals.polymarket.com/v1/info/instruments, checked .
How a trade works
- You place an order. It either matches at once or rests in the order book until someone trades against it.
- A fill changes your position. A fill on your side adds exposure, a fill against it removes exposure, and a position at zero size is closed.
- The exchange tracks the rest. Your equity moves with the price, funding is paid or received, and margin checks run all the time.
Orders can be limit or market style, with three time-in-force options: good-til-canceled (it stays in the book until it is filled or you cancel it), immediate-or-cancel (it takes what the book offers at once and cancels the rest) and fill-or-kill (it fills completely at once or not at all). Polymarket abbreviates them as GTC, IOC and FOK. A post-only order is rejected if it would take liquidity, which makes sure you pay the maker rate. A reduce-only order cannot increase exposure, which makes it safe for closing a position.
Fills update your account inside the exchange. They are not separate transactions on the blockchain.
The three prices
A Perps market shows three different prices, and they have different jobs.
| Price | Where it comes from | What it is used for |
|---|---|---|
| Traded price | The last fill in the order book | Trade history |
| Index price | Outside feeds, combined | An estimate of the asset's fair value, the anchor for funding |
| Mark price | A median of three candidates | Your profit and loss, margin checks and liquidation |
The index is built from external feeds such as Pyth, Chainlink Data Streams and Hyperliquid and published every 200 milliseconds. The mark price is updated every 200 milliseconds as the median of three candidates, their middle value, so one candidate that runs far from the other two cannot drag it along.
The mark price guide shows how the candidates work. It also covers a point where Polymarket's pages differ: the funding page measures the funding premium against the index, while two other pages list funding among the uses of the mark price. This site follows the funding page.
Margin: the collateral behind a position
Perps accounts are funded with pUSD (short for Polymarket USD). Margin is the part of that collateral that backs your open positions. There are two levels:
- Initial margin is what you need to open or increase a position. It is Notional / Leverage, so a higher leverage means a smaller margin.
- Maintenance margin is the least you need to keep the position open. It is the position value times 0.5 / MaxLeverage, where MaxLeverage is the market's own maximum, so it does not change with the leverage you chose.
Your equity is your collateral plus unrealized profit and loss, minus fees and funding you owe. The gap between equity and the two margin levels puts your account in one of three states.
Margin comes in two modes. Isolated margin backs one position with its own allocation, so a liquidation closes only that position. Cross margin shares the account's collateral between positions, which can keep a position open longer but lets one bad position draw on the others. The margin and leverage guide goes through both.
Funding: how a perp stays close to the price
Funding is a payment between traders that keeps the perp price near the index. The hourly funding rate decides who pays: longs pay shorts while it is positive, and shorts pay longs while it is negative. A perp that trades richer than the index pushes the rate up, a cheaper one pushes it down, and a small fixed interest term keeps the rate positive until the perp trades well under the index. Funding settles at the end of each 1 hour window, and the rate is capped at 4% per hour.
Funding is a transfer from one side to the other, and the protocol takes no cut. For a position you hold for a long time, funding adds up. The funding rate guide shows how the rate is built and what it costs.
Liquidation: when margin runs out
Liquidation starts when equity falls below maintenance margin. The exchange then closes the position with reduce-only immediate-or-cancel orders. These orders are market priced and take whatever liquidity the book offers at that moment, with no protective spread off the mark price, so the price you are closed at can be worse than the price that triggered the liquidation.
If the loss is large, the position can skip the order book and be taken over by the insurance fund when equity falls below two-thirds of maintenance margin. If the fund could not absorb the position and stay healthy itself, the position is closed against opposite-side traders in a step called auto-deleveraging.
Liquidation also costs money. While an account is flagged for liquidation, its fills pay an extra fee on top of the ordinary maker or taker fee: Notional × (MakerOrTakerRate + LiquidationFeeRate). Auto-deleveraging fills are the exception: they carry no fee for either side. The liquidation fee rate in the instrument list is 0.5%. The liquidation guide explains each step.
Fees
Perps fees depend on your trailing 30-day trading volume and are charged on each fill as abs(Price * Quantity) * Rate. Tiers are re-evaluated every UTC day.
| 30-day volume from | Taker fee | Maker fee |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | 0.0400% | 0.0125% |
| $1M | 0.0370% | 0.0100% |
| $5M | 0.0350% | 0.0080% |
| $25M | 0.0300% | 0.0050% |
| $100M | 0.0270% | 0.0020% |
| $500M | 0.0250% | 0.0000% |
| $1B | 0.0200% | -0.0050% |
Perps fee tiers by trailing 30-day volume. Source: docs.polymarket.com/perps/learn-about-trading/fees, checked .
The top tier pays makers a rebate: a negative maker fee of -0.0050% means the maker receives money. One detail is worded two ways. The fees page and the FAQ set the tier by trailing 30-day trading volume, while a Sep 27, 2026 changelog entry on account groups with combined volume mentions a 14-day volume for tier assignment. The table follows the fees page.
Where it runs and who can trade
Perps are a hybrid exchange. Matching, margin and funding run off-chain for speed, while deposits and withdrawals settle on Polygon.
The whole system, from the order book to liquidation, runs continuously, including when the underlying market is closed. The exception is a short maintenance window in which the exchange is in cancel-only mode and cancels, liquidations, deposits, withdrawals and funding keep working while new orders are rejected. What changes with the time of day is the set of outside feeds that build the index and the mark price. Sessions do not change funding, margin, leverage tiers, matching and liquidation triggers.
Not everyone can trade Perps. Polymarket's documentation says that order placement is not permitted from the United States, Canada, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk. Its restrictions page adds that the list can change, and additional restrictions may apply under Polymarket notices or applicable law.
PolyTerminal uses Polymarket's official geoblock check and is not available in all regions. Check the rules that apply to you before you trade, and read the risk disclosure.
FAQ
Can I hold a Perps position forever?
A Perps position has no expiry date, so nothing forces you out on a schedule. It ends when you close it, when the exchange liquidates it, when auto-deleveraging reduces it because you are a counterparty, or when Polymarket retires the market. While you hold it, you pay or receive funding every hour.
What is the difference between a perp and a perpetual future?
None. Perp is the short name for perpetual future, and both describe the same contract: a futures-style position with no expiry whose price is kept near the price of the underlying asset by funding payments.
Does a Perps position settle like a prediction market share?
No. A prediction market share is redeemed at 1 or 0 once its event is decided. A perp has no event and no such payout: your position is long or short, and its value follows the asset price, funding and margin rules. You leave it by closing it, or it is closed for you.
Can I trade Perps on a weekend or at night?
The Perps order book runs continuously, including when the underlying market is closed, and funding and margin checks keep running too. Only the outside feeds behind the index and the mark price change. The exception is a short maintenance window, during which new orders are rejected.
What do I deposit to fund a Perps account?
Perps accounts are funded with pUSD. A deposit moves it from the user's Polymarket wallet into the Perps account, and deposits and withdrawals settle on Polygon. A withdrawal has to leave enough collateral for the positions you still hold.
Sources and checks
Every rule quoted in this article comes from the registry below. Each row names the official page and the day it was compared with the text.
All 44 rules used in this article
| Rule | Value | Official source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expiry of a Perps position | has no expiry date | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| A market can be put into close-only mode and later retired | can put a market into close-only mode and later settle and delist it | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| What happens to open positions when a market is retired | remaining positions close at the final settlement price | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Perps markets in the public instrument list | 89 | api.perpetuals.polymarket.com/ | |
| What the Perps FAQ page says about maximum leverage | up to 20x for crypto, SP500, oil, gold and silver | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Highest maximum leverage in the Perps list | 50x | api.perpetuals.polymarket.com/ | |
| Markets with a 50x maximum (display names) | USA500-USD, US100-USD, BTC-USD and ETH-USD | api.perpetuals.polymarket.com/ | |
| Live instrument details should be read before orders are submitted | integrators should read live instrument details before submitting orders | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Time-in-force values | GTC, IOC and FOK | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Post-only | is rejected if it would take liquidity | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Reduce-only | cannot increase exposure | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Index price feed sources | Pyth, Chainlink Data Streams and Hyperliquid | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Index price publication interval | 200 milliseconds | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Mark price update interval | 200 milliseconds | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Perps collateral | pUSD | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Initial margin | Notional / Leverage | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Maintenance margin rate | 0.5 / MaxLeverage | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Who pays funding, by the sign of the hourly rate | longs pay shorts while it is positive, and shorts pay longs while it is negative | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Funding charge window | 1 hour | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Funding rate cap | 4% per hour | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Who receives funding | the protocol takes no cut | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Liquidation starts when | equity falls below maintenance margin | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| How a liquidation is executed | reduce-only immediate-or-cancel orders | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Liquidation order price | no protective spread off the mark price | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| When the insurance fund steps in | when equity falls below two-thirds of maintenance margin | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Fee on a liquidation fill | Notional × (MakerOrTakerRate + LiquidationFeeRate) | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Fees on auto-deleveraging fills | carry no fee for either side | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Liquidation fee rate in the instrument list | 0.5% | api.perpetuals.polymarket.com/ | |
| What sets the Perps fee tier | trailing 30-day trading volume | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Perps fee per fill | abs(Price * Quantity) * Rate | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Fee tier re-evaluation | every UTC day | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Maker fee at the top tier (a rebate) | -0.0050% | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Volume window named in the Sep 27 changelog entry on account groups | a 14-day volume for tier assignment | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Where matching runs | off-chain | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Where deposits settle | Polygon | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Trading hours | continuously | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| What works during a maintenance window (cancel-only mode) | cancels, liquidations, deposits, withdrawals and funding keep working while new orders are rejected | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| What sessions do not change | funding, margin, leverage tiers, matching and liquidation triggers | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Countries where Perps orders cannot be placed | the United States, Canada, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| The list of restricted places can change | can change, and additional restrictions may apply under Polymarket notices or applicable law | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Perps markets by category (public instrument list) | Perps markets by category | api.perpetuals.polymarket.com/ | |
| BTC-USD leverage tiers by position value | BTC-USD leverage tiers | api.perpetuals.polymarket.com/ | |
| Perps fee tiers by trailing 30-day volume | Perps fee tiers | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Where a Perps deposit comes from | the user's Polymarket wallet into the Perps account | docs.polymarket.com/ |
Keep reading
Perps · 8 min
Polymarket Perps Margin and Leverage
How margin and leverage work on Polymarket Perps: initial and maintenance margin, leverage tiers, isolated and cross margin, with worked numbers.
Perps · 6 min
Polymarket Perps Funding Rate Explained
How the Polymarket Perps funding rate is built from the order book, settled every hour and capped, who pays whom, and what it costs to hold a position.
Perps · 8 min
Polymarket Perps Liquidation Explained
How liquidation works on Polymarket Perps: the trigger, the insurance fund, auto-deleveraging, the extra fee and how to read your distance to liquidation.
Free tool
Perps Liquidation Price Calculator
Free Polymarket Perps calculator: estimate the liquidation price of an isolated position, the margin you post and the cost of funding.
PolyTerminal is an independent interface for Polymarket and is not operated or endorsed by Polymarket. Orders placed through PolyTerminal carry PolyTerminal’s Polymarket builder code, and PolyTerminal may charge a builder fee on top of Polymarket’s own fees. This page is educational and is not investment advice. Rules were compared with the official documentation on Oct 19, 2026; check the source before you act on a number.