USDT-margined contracts are perpetual contract products settled in USDT. For beginners, the most intuitive understanding of "USDT-margined" is: no matter whether you trade BTC, ETH, or other cryptocurrencies, your account’s profit and loss, margin, and fees are all calculated in USDT. This article will guide you through the basic concepts, market mechanisms, fee rules, and key account terminology of USDT-margined contracts.
Contents
- What is a USDT-Margined Contract
- Core Mechanisms of Perpetual Contracts
- Funding Fees
- Trading Fees
- Common Account Terms
What is a USDT-Margined Contract
A USDT-margined contract, also called a "USDT-margined perpetual contract," uses USDT as the unified margin and settlement asset for all trading pairs. For example, in the BTCUSDT perpetual contract, you can go long (bullish) or short (bearish), and your final profit and loss will be recorded in USDT in your account.
Compared to "coin-margined" contracts (which use the cryptocurrency itself as margin, such as using BTC to trade BTCUSD contracts), USDT-margined contracts have the following features:
- Intuitive profit and loss. All data is denominated in USDT, eliminating the need to convert between multiple cryptocurrencies.
- Unified margin. You only need to hold USDT to trade multiple pairs, making fund management more flexible.
- Controllable risk exposure. When shorting, you do not need to borrow or hold the underlying cryptocurrency first; you can profit from downward price movements using only USDT.
Suitable for traders who want to avoid additional price volatility risk of cryptocurrencies and prefer clear profit settlement.
Core Mechanisms of Perpetual Contracts
Before participating in USDT-margined contract trading, you need to understand the following key concepts:
Mark Price. perpvia uses a reasonable mark price mechanism to calculate unrealized profit and loss and trigger liquidation. The price used to trigger liquidation is the mark price displayed in real-time on the trading page.
Initial Margin. The margin frozen at the time of opening a position based on the selected leverage. The higher the leverage, the less initial margin is required, but the risk is greater.
Maintenance Margin. The minimum margin level required to continue holding a position. If the available margin of the position falls below this level, forced liquidation will be triggered.
Funding Fees. Perpetual contracts have no delivery date. To keep the contract price anchored to the spot price, longs and shorts pay each other funding fees periodically. When the funding rate is positive, longs pay shorts; when negative, shorts pay longs.
Note: Only users holding positions at the funding fee settlement time will pay or receive funding fees. If you close your position before the settlement, you will not participate in that round of fee settlement.
Funding Fees
Settlement Times: Settled every 8 hours at:
- 00:00 (UTC+8)
- 08:00 (UTC+8)
- 16:00 (UTC+8)
Billing Basis: Funding fees are calculated based on the notional value of the position (position size × mark price), regardless of the leverage used. This means that whether you use 5x or 50x leverage, as long as the position size is the same, the funding fee you pay or receive will be the same.
perpvia does not take any cut from funding fees; funding fees only flow between long and short users:
- Positive funding rate → longs pay shorts
- Negative funding rate → shorts pay longs
You can view the real-time funding rate for the current trading pair and the countdown to the next settlement at the top market bar on the contract trading page.
Trading Fees
The standard trading fees for perpvia USDT-margined contracts (for regular users) are as follows:
| Role | Fee Rate |
|---|---|
| Maker (Order placer) | 0.02% |
| Taker (Order taker) | 0.05% |
About the difference between Maker and Taker:
- Maker: Places orders using limit orders, which enter the order book and wait to be filled, providing market liquidity.
- Taker: Immediately fills existing orders in the order book (such as market orders or counter orders), consuming market liquidity.
Generally, maker fees are lower than taker fees. During perpvia’s active periods or for some high-liquidity trading pairs, maker fees may be negative, meaning you not only do not pay fees but also receive rebates.
Common Account Terms
Below are several key data points you may see on the positions page or assets page during contract trading. It is recommended to familiarize yourself with their meanings:
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Wallet Balance | Deposits − Withdrawals + Realized Profit and Loss |
| Realized Profit and Loss | Cumulative closed position profit/loss + cumulative fees + cumulative funding fees |
| Unrealized Profit and Loss | The sum of floating profit/loss of all current positions calculated at the mark price |
| Total Equity | Wallet balance + unrealized profit and loss |
| Position Margin | The total margin occupied by all current positions |
| Order Margin | The margin frozen for all unfilled orders |
| Available Balance | Wallet balance − position margin − order margin, available for opening new positions or transferring |
In simple terms:
- Total Equity reflects the true value of your account at current prices;
- Available Balance is the amount of money you can still use;
-
Unrealized Profit and Loss changes in real-time with the market and is not included in wallet balance until positions are closed.
Disclaimer and Risk Warning:
All content provided by perpvia is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute any investment or financial advice. Contract trading carries high risks and may result in the loss of your entire principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Please fully understand the risks and conduct independent research before trading. perpvia does not assume any responsibility for users’ trading decisions or any resulting losses.