Perpetual vs Futures: perps and dated contracts compared

Perpetual or dated futures: the short answer

A dated futures contract has an expiry date; its price can sit above or below spot (the basis) and converges at expiry. To keep a position, you roll into the next contract.

A perpetual contract has no expiry. Instead, a funding rate is charged periodically between traders to pull its price toward the underlying. You hold as long as you keep enough margin.

Perpetual futures vs Dated futures: the numbers

Key differences between perpetual and dated futures

• Time: perps can be held indefinitely; dated futures end.
• Cost: funding on perps changes with demand; futures carry a basis fixed at entry.
• Management: no rolls on perps; calendar rolls on futures.
• On BRVX: margin in USDT, USDC, BTC, ETH, SOL or BNB; leverage up to 150x.

Perpetual futures: pros and cons

• Pros: No expiry or rolls.
• Pros: Price stays close to the underlying.
• Cons: Funding can add up on long holds.
• Cons: Rates can change quickly.

Dated futures: pros and cons

• Pros: Cost known at entry through the basis.
• Pros: Exchange clearing.
• Cons: Expiry and roll management.
• Cons: Session hours on most exchanges.

Perpetual vs Futures: when to pick which

Short- and medium-term traders often prefer perps for simplicity. Hedgers with a fixed date, such as producers, often prefer dated futures. On a perp, check the funding rate before you hold for days.

What perpetual futures and dated futures actually are

A dated futures contract is an agreement to trade an asset at a set price on a set future day. Each contract is named after its month, such as a March or June contract. On that day the contract ends and settles, in cash or by delivery of the commodity, depending on its rules. After that it no longer exists.

A perpetual future is built so that it never reaches that day. It is a contract on the price of an underlying market, with no end date and no final settlement. Profit or loss comes only from the price change between opening and closing, plus the costs along the way. On BRVX, perpetuals are synthetic contracts quoted in USDT. You trade price exposure only: no coin, share, metal or barrel changes hands.

What moves the price of a perpetual vs a dated future

Both contracts follow the price of an underlying market. The difference is the small gap between the contract and that price, and what closes the gap.

In a dated future the gap is called the basis. It reflects interest rates, storage costs for commodities and demand for the contract. As expiry gets closer, the basis shrinks, and on the last day the future and the underlying meet. A trader knows this path in advance, even if daily moves vary.

A perpetual has no final day to force the two prices together. Funding does that job instead: a regular charge whose size changes with demand. When many traders crowd one side, the rate on that side tends to rise. On BRVX the rate depends on market and side, and both long and short pay it.

• Dated future: basis, interest rates, storage costs, time left to expiry.
• Perpetual: funding rate, demand on each side, how far the contract drifts from the underlying.
• Both: news, supply and demand in the underlying market, general risk mood.

Perpetual vs futures: a worked example of holding costs

Here is a simple example with round numbers. The numbers are for illustration only and are not BRVX rates.

Say you want a one-month long position worth $10,000. A dated future trades at 101 while the underlying is at 100, so the basis is 1%. If the underlying stays flat, the future falls toward 100 by expiry. Your cost is about $100, and you knew it on day one.

Now take a perpetual with funding of 0.005% per hour. That is $0.50 an hour, $12 a day, or about $360 over 30 days. If demand shifts, the rate can rise or fall, so the final cost is only known after you close.

The lesson is simple. For a few hours, funding is small. Over weeks it can be larger than a basis, or smaller. Check the current rate and multiply it by the hours you plan to stay in.

Perpetual futures history and trading hours vs dated futures

Dated futures are old. Organised futures markets for grain grew in Chicago in the 19th century, and the same model later spread to metals, energy, currencies and stock indexes.

The perpetual is much newer. Economist Robert Shiller described a perpetual futures idea in the early 1990s, and crypto platforms made it popular from the mid-2010s. Crypto trades all day, every day, so a contract with no expiry and no session break fit that market well.

Hours are still a practical difference. Most futures exchanges have trading sessions, daily breaks and holiday closures. BRVX quotes its perpetuals around the clock, including weekends, also for stocks, commodities, forex and the index. The underlying exchanges keep their own hours, so a stock's home market may be closed while its BRVX price is moving.

Common mistakes when trading perpetuals instead of futures

Traders who know one type of contract often carry habits into the other. These are the errors seen most often.

• Treating funding as a fee paid once, not a charge that repeats every period.
• Planning a long trade without multiplying the current rate by the hours you expect to stay in.
• Assuming the rate stays fixed; it can change quickly when demand shifts.
• Using high leverage because there is no expiry, so a normal move reaches liquidation.
• Watching only the contract price and forgetting that margin in a volatile coin also moves.
• Expecting a perp to meet the underlying on a set day, as a future does at expiry.

How perpetual vs futures trading works on BRVX

BRVX offers perpetual contracts only, not dated futures. There are 41 markets across crypto, US and Asian stocks, commodities, forex and an index. You can go long or short with leverage from 5x, up to 150x on some markets, and fees from 0.05% per side.

Funding is charged every hour on most markets and every 3 hours on the Nasdaq-100 tracker, XYZ100. Margin can be posted in USDT, USDC, BTC, ETH, SOL or BNB. You can sign in with email or a crypto wallet and set take-profit and stop-loss levels.

Before you open a trade, remember that leveraged trading can lose your whole margin, and funding adds a cost for every period you stay in. BRVX is not available to US persons.