What are futures on bitcoin?

In Cripto World, a contract in which the buyer and seller agree to buy and sell an item at a price determined at the time of opening is referred to as a “futures” contract. For instance, Bitcoin futures imply that BTC is the deal’s asset and that its price is based on the asset’s value, but it may vary.

Three futures-related facts:

• Accessible on the majority of crypto exchanges.
• They enable you to increase your trading gains (and losses).
• Cryptocurrency can be traded even if it is not your own.

Futures enable the development of sophisticated trading techniques, and they are frequently used to minimize risk and increase returns through leverage. Furthermore, many futures contract types can be utilized for a variety of objectives and each has its own benefits and drawbacks. So it’s worthwhile to look more closely at the key categories of futures.

Several Bitcoin futures products

Different platforms might provide various Bitcoin futures for trading. Their opening and execution are both flexible. The majority of exchanges use two primary criteria:

1. Date of expiration

Perpetual and quarterly are the two most common divisions. The last day of the quarter in which they were opened is when quarterly futures automatically expire. As long as there are sufficient funds on the balance to cover the margin and funding rate, a position in a perpetual contract may remain open. The trader receives unrealized gain or loss up until the perpetual futures contract is closed. The unrealized gain or loss becomes a realized one when the position is closed, and it is recorded on the trader’s account as a fixed amount.

2. Shipping

Deliverables and settlements are frequently separated. Deliverable futures entail the actual transmission of a commodity at a predetermined moment. For instance, the seller must actually transfer the BTC, not merely pay the price difference, in order to execute a deliverable BTC future. Futures contracts that have been settled advise paying the discrepancy between the delivery price and the actual spot price. For instance, if a trader opened a settled futures contract to sell BTC for $16,000 and BTC was trading at $18,000 at the time of execution, he would have to pay the buyer the $2,000 price difference. Both the buyer and the seller avoid dealing with Bitcoin directly.

Although the majority of cryptocurrency exchanges employ these features for futures, some may provide non-standard contracts, so make sure to double-check everything before initiating a trade.

What should you understand about trading futures?

Futures are derivatives, thus in order to trade them, you must simultaneously consider a number of price indications, including:

how much the underlying asset is worth. The price of the contract is based on the spot asset’s value. For instance, the value of BTC directly affects the cost of BTC futures. The price of the underlying asset is often determined by the exchanges using information from one or more spot exchanges.

price of futures. When opening a position, it’s the contract price.

Basis. It is the price differential between the actual asset and the futures price. When the spot price exceeds the futures price, the basis is either positive or negative (when the spot price is lower than the futures price). As an illustration, suppose there is a future contract to purchase BTC at $16,000 and BTC increases to $18,000. We have a favorable basis of $2,000 in this situation.