In perpetual futures markets, a fee that longs and shorts pay each other at fixed intervals (usually every 8 hours), designed to keep the contract price anchored near spot — when the contract trades above spot, longs pay shorts; when below, shorts pay longs.

Borrowing funds from the exchange to amplify your trading position, letting you control a larger amount with less margin. Leverage magnifies both gains and losses — 10x means a 1% price move swings your capital by 10%.

When a leveraged position loses so much that your margin can no longer support it, the exchange forcibly closes the position to stop losses from exceeding your deposit — this is liquidation. The price that triggers it is the liquidation price.

The funds you must deposit with the exchange as collateral when opening a leveraged position. Margin comes in two forms: initial margin (required to open) and maintenance margin (the minimum to keep the position). If your account margin falls below the maintenance level, you're liquidated.

The total number (or total value) of all contracts currently open and not yet closed in a perpetual or futures market. It represents how much money is committed to contract positions, a key gauge of market participation and capital scale, often read alongside price and the funding rate.

A derivatives contract with no expiry date that lets you go long or short on crypto with leverage. A funding-rate mechanism tethers its price to the spot market, so a position can be held indefinitely without forced settlement.