What are perpetual futures?
Of all of the markets available at sites like Polymarket and Kalshi, perpetual futures is often one that causes much of the confusion. Perpetual futures are what traders call derivative contracts, which don’t have an expiry date and you can pull out at any time. This is very different from a traditional prediction market where you would purchase a contract and then at a certain time point, that market would end and your contract would settle.
With perpetual futures, there’s no end point in sight, you can hold the contracts indefinitely - although most traders don’t do this. With these you can speculate on the future price of an asset, without actually trading on it or owning it.
So let’s say that you want to trade a perpetual future for Bitcoin. Instead of purchasing Bitcoin, or trading on a short-term contract, you’d trade based on what you think that price will be in the future. Then, if the price moves in your favor, you would receive payouts according to the original contract price.
These definitely aren’t for everyone, in fact, I’d only recommend them to traders very familiar with Coinbase prediction markets or similar. Cryptocurrency is the most popular way to use perpetual futures, simply because it's one of the most volatile markets. Also, these types of markets wouldn’t really work on other topics because they have an end point.
How do perpetual futures and traditional futures differ?
The key thing that sets perpetual futures apart from traditional futures is that they have no expiration date. Whereas with traditional futures, you’re trading contracts on an outcome that will end at some point. For example, sports are a very common future market, as people will often trade on who they believe will win a specific tournament. Another example would be something in politics around which candidates will run for Presidential election - all of these events have an end date because at some point we will know the answer.
But with perpetual futures, there’s no end in sight. You can leave the trade at any point and equally, you can keep it open for as long as you want. Let’s take a look at how it all works exactly.
- Global financial sectors
- GDP, unemployment projections
- High market liquidity
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- International economic events
- Local policy changes
- Interest rate trends
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- Trade predictions tied to US economic indicators
- Prediction markets for recession, unemployment rates, Fed decisions
- Graphs show how price trends for markets have changed
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How to trade on perpetual futures
Many perpetual futures prediction markets offer loads of options for placing trades, including both traditional futures and perpetual futures. When looking at perpetual futures specifically, there are a few steps involved in placing this trade. It can be a little different to what you’re used to, so let’s go through it together.
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Sign up to a prediction market with perpetual futures
First things first is to either check if your current prediction market offers perpetual futures, or sign up to one that does. Later on in this review, we’ll be chatting you through some of our favorite prediction markets for perpetual futures like Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com. To sign up, you can click on the relevant page banner and then follow the on-screen instructions. Most sites have a fast login option where you can use your Google or Apple account. I always choose this where possible as it just makes things so much faster. -
Deposit funds at your prediction market
The next thing you’ll need to do is deposit funds. You can use any payment method that you like, as long as it’s available at your chosen site of course. The minimum deposit is usually $10, and all deposits are made instantly. Oh and another thing - sometimes your deposit may qualify you for a sign up offer, so always double check what promotion a site has running. -
Choose your direction: long or short
Decide what market you’d like to trade on. This is most commonly cryptocurrency since it's volatile and the price will keep changing with no actual end point. You’ll then need to choose your position: either long or short. With the long position you’ll gain profit when the price of the Ethereum prediction markets or other asset goes up. So for example, if you think that Bitcoin will go up in value, then you’d choose the long position. For the short position, you’ll profit when the crypto price goes down. So if you think that the price of an asset will fall, then you’d choose the short position. I sometimes think of perpetual futures as the long-term version of 5 minute crypto prediction markets. You’re still predicting the direction you think the price will move, but with perpetual futures, there’s no end to the market. -
Choose your leverage
Opening a perpetual futures trade works by depositing funds to back your trade, also known as collateral. Then your leverage will determine how much exposure your collateral controls…are you still with me? Everything is clearer with an example, so let’s take this one: If you have $1,000 in collateral and then use 5x leverage, you can trade as if you actually had $5,000. Having higher leverage allows you to trade with a larger fund, without having to deposit that money yourself. There are obviously risks and rewards to this. If the asset goes up by 10%, your $5,000 position would gain $500. And since you only deposited $1,000 of your own money, that’s a 50% profit for you. However, it works both ways! If the asset goes down by 10%, your $5,000 loses $500, which means a 50% loss for you. Having the higher leverage essentially boosts everything - both the potential profit and the potential loss. -
Manage your risk (please!)
And that brings me on very nicely to the final step which is that you need to manage your risk. To do this, you can put two different controls in place: a stop loss and a take profit. With the stop loss control, you’ll set how much you’ll allow the price of the asset to go against you, before your position automatically closes. This protects you from losing your entire collateral, so I’d recommend always doing this when setting up a perpetual market trade. The take profit control is kind of the opposite, in that when your profit reaches a certain number, your market will close. Putting this control in place is a good idea given how volatile these markets can be. The last thing you want is to miss a huge profit simply because you were asleep.
Our top sites for trading on perpetual futures
Okay I feel like I’ve spoken enough about what perpetual futures are and how they work, so I’m going to move on to my favorite sites. Not every prediction market offers perpetual futures, but there are three that do that I really like. One thing to note is that Polymarket’s perpetual futures are only available with an early access code, but should be launching more widely very soon.
| Prediction markets | Best feature |
| Kalshi | Thirteen perpetual futures markets, up to 50x leverage |
| Polymarket | Helpful beginners guides, up to 20x leverage |
| Crypto.com | Mobile app |
Kalshi: Choose from 13 perpetual futures
Kalshi In A Nutshell
At Kalshi you can trade on 13 perpetual futures markets, all of which are different cryptocurrencies. This includes BTC, ETH, HYPE, SOL, XRP, SUI, LINK, BCH, LTC, KSHIB, DOGE, ZEC and NEAR. each one has a different price and total volume that has already been traded. When I clicked on the BTC market, I could see that the current price was $61,914, the total volume traded was $111.6M. To trade on this, all I would need to do is click the Long or Short button at the bottom of the screen. Then enter the total collateral and then either a 25% or 50% margin. The whole trade was completed in about five minutes, including setting up the deposit loss controls.
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Polymarket: Great for beginners
Polymarket In A Nutshell
Polymarket also has a variety of perpetual markets to choose from, but the maximum leverage you can have is 20x. This makes it a great site for those new to perpetual future markets and those who prefer to keep the risk lower. To get started with this, search for perpetual markets or ‘perps’ in Polymarket and you’ll be brought to a new page. You will then need to activate perps using your early access code, as it’s not yet available site wide. But one other thing that Polymarket does so well, is provide loads of helpful guides and working examples, helping anyone that needs it, get their head around how these markets work.
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Crypto.com: The mobile-first platform
Crypto.com In A Nutshell
Crypto.com doesn’t offer as many perpetual futures as the other two sites, but there are still a fair few to choose from. Just like with Kalshi and Polymarket, Crypto.com primarily offers crypto perps like BTC and ETH. What I will say about Crypto.com is that if you prefer to make your trades while on the move, then this could be the platform for you. The Crypto.com mobile app is fantastic and available for everyone, no matter the device you have. You can access all of your trades, make deposits, put controls in place, keep an eye on crypto prices, all with a few taps of your phone.
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Sponsored by Crypto.com – Not investment advice. Trading prediction markets and crypto involves risk, including potential loss of your stake. Consider your risk tolerance before participating. Crypto.com connects U.S. users to CDNA (regulated by CFTC) for derivatives trading. CDNA membership required. Trading may not be suitable for all—you could lose your entire investment plus fees. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results. This is not a solicitation or recommendation to trade.
Pros and cons perpetual futures
- Allows you to trade on crypto without owning it
- Can set deposit loss limits and profit controls
- Can use leverage to increase potential profits
- Cryptocurrencies markets are volatile and carry risk
Final thoughts on perpetual futures
So hopefully you’re now clear on what perpetual markets are and how you can trade on them. They’re quite different from traditional futures and any other markets traded simply because there’s literally no end in sight. But with that in mind, you can of course end the trade at any time you like. I’d also recommend setting up the deposit and profit controls, just to ensure that you’re protecting your trade as much as you can. Cryptocurrencies are known to be volatile, so it’s even more important when trading on these markets.
If you’re interested in perpetual futures, then Polymarket, Kalshi and Crypto.com are a great place to start. You’ll find plenty of markets to choose from and loads of helpful guides on how it all works. Tap our banners to get started on these sites!
Perpetual futures FAQs
What are perpetual futures prediction markets?
These are a way to trade on the price of cryptocurrency without actually owning it. You’ll actually be trading on whether the price will go up or down, but there’s no expiry date. So instead of trading on whether Bitcoin will go over X price by next month, you’ll choose whether you want to trade the long or short position. If you go long, you’ll get profit if the price rises, and if you go short, then you’ll get profit if the price falls.
Where can I trade on perpetual futures markets?
You can trade on perpetual futures at several prediction markets including Kalshi, Polymarket and Crypto.com. These platforms have a variety of markets available, are very easy to use and even offer beginners guides to help you make your first trade.
Are perpetual futures prediction markets popular?
They’re not as popular as traditional futures, but that’s likely due to them being a fairly new market. The unique thing about perpetual futures is that you can profit from the price of crypto going up or down, depending on your market position. If you choose the short position on Bitcoin for example, then you’ll get profit when the price of Bitcoin falls.