Linear Perpetual

  • Updated

Linear Perpetual futures are a type of contracts where the settlement currency is a stablecoin such as USDC, instead of BTC/ETH. Unlike with inverse contracts, the provided margin will be USDC unless cross collateral is used.

Linear perpetual

Underlying Asset / Ticker

Contract size

Minimum order size

Minimum tick size (USDC)

Minimum block size (USDC)

Minimum block tick size (USDC)

NMax (Coins)

BTC

Deribit BTC-USDC Index*

0.0001

BTC

0.0001

BTC

0.5

200,000

0.5

2,000

ETH

Deribit ETH-USDC Index*

0.001

ETH

0.001

ETH

0.05

100,000

0.05

35,000

ADA

Deribit ADA-USDC Index

10

ADA

10

ADA

0.00001

50,000

0.00001

3,000,000

ALGO

Deribit ALGO-USDC Index

10

ALGO

10

ALGO

0.00001

50,000

0.00001

2,100,000

AVAX

Deribit AVAX-USDC Index

0.1

AVAX

0.1

AVAX

0.001

50,000

0.001

120,000

BCH

Deribit BCH-USDC Index

0.02

BCH

0.02

BCH

0.001

50,000

0.001

40,000

BNB

Deribit BNB-USDC Index

0.01

BNB

0.01

BNB

0.01

50,000

0.01

1,150

DOGE

Deribit DOGE-USDC Index

100

DOGE

100

DOGE

0.00001

50,000

0.00001

21,000,000

DOT

Deribit DOT-USDC Index

1

DOT

1

DOT

0.0001

50,000

0.0001

600,000

HYPE

Deribit HYPE-USDC Index

0.1

HYPE

0.1

HYPE

0.001

50,000

0.001

130,000

LINK

Deribit LINK-USDC Index

1

LINK

1

LINK

0.001

50,000

0.001

100,000

LTC

Deribit LTC-USDC Index

0.1

LTC

0.1

LTC

0.01

50,000

0.01

20,000

NEAR

Deribit NEAR-USDC Index

1

NEAR

1

NEAR

0.0001

50,000

0.0001

550,000

PAXG

Deribit PAXG-USDC Index

0.01

PAXG

0.01

PAXG

0.1

50,000

0.1

3,500

SOL

Deribit SOL-USDC Index

0.1

SOL

0.1

SOL

0.001

50,000

0.001

250,000

TRX

Deribit TRX-USDC Index

100

TRX

100

TRX

0.00001

50,000

0.00001

3,150,000

TRUMP

Deribit TRUMP-USDC Index

1

TRUMP

1

TRUMP

0.0001

50,000

0.0001

650,000

UNI

Deribit UNI-USDC Index

1

UNI

1

UNI

0.0001

50,000

0.0001

225,000

XRP

Deribit XRP-USDC Index

10

XRP

10

XRP

0.0001

50,000

0.0001

5,000,000

Addition specifications that apply to all linear perpetuals:

  • The symbol for each linear perpetual is in the form: UnderlyingAsset_QuotedCurrency-PERPETUAL For example: BTC_USDC-PERPETUAL

  • Type: Linear

  • Category: Perpetual

  • Trading hours: 24/7

  • Quote currency: USDC

  • Settlement currency: USDC

  • Daily settlement is at 08:00 UTC

  • The delivery price is calculated as a time-weighted average (TWAP) of the relevant Deribit index, as measured between 07:30 and 08:00 UTC

  • The settlement method is cash settled in USDC

  • The funding cap is +/- 5%

  • The funding dampener is +/- 0.025% for all perpetuals except for the PAXG perpetual, which has a funding dampener of +/- 0.1%

Note

* As of the 15th of July 2025, the BTC-USDC index is pegged to the BTC-USD index, and the ETH-USDC index is pegged to the ETH-USD index. This means that for the purposes of delivery and settlement of derivatives that use these two indexes, parity between USD and USDC is assumed. For the valuation of collateral in X:SM and X:PM accounts though, the USDC/USD exchange rate is still used to calculate equities and margin balances in USD terms.

Funding Rate

When the funding rate is positive, long position holders pay funding to the short position holders; when the funding rate is negative, short position holders pay funding to the long position holders. The funding rate is expressed as an 8-hour interest rate, and is calculated at any given time as follows:

Premium Rate

Premium Rate = ((Mark Price - Deribit Index) / Deribit Index) * 100%

Funding Rate

Sequentially, the funding rate is derived from the premium rate by applying a damper.

  • If the premium rate is within -0.025% and 0.025% range, the actual funding rate will be reduced to 0.00%.

  • If the premium rate is lower than -0.025%, then the actual funding rate will be the premium rate + 0.025%.

  • If the premium rate is higher than 0.025%, then the actual funding rate will be the premium rate - 0.025%.

  • Additionally, the funding rate is capped at +/ - 5% for all linear USDC perpetuals.

Funding Rate = Maximum (0.025%, Premium Rate) + Minimum (-0.025%, Premium Rate)

Time Fraction

Time Fraction = Funding Rate Time Period / 8 hours

The actual funding payment is calculated by multiplying the funding rate by the position size and the time fraction.

Funding Payment = Funding Rate * Position Size * Time Fraction

Example 1

If the mark price is at USDC 10,007.50 and the Deribit index is at USDC 10,000, the funding rate and premium rate are calculated as follows:

Premium Rate = ((10,007.50 - 10,000) / 10,000) * 100% = 0.075%

Funding Rate = Maximum (0.025%, 0.075%) + Minimum (-0.025%, 0.075%) = 0.075% - 0.025% = 0.05%

Let's assume a trader has a long position of USDC 10,000 for 1 minute, and during this minute the mark price remains at USDC 10,007.50 and the Deribit index remains at USDC 10,000, in this case, the funding calculation for this period is:

8 hours = 480 minutes:

Funding Rate = 1/480 * 0.05% = 0.0001041667%

Funding Payment = 0.0001041667% * 10,000 = 0.01041667 USDC

The short position holders receive this amount and the long position holders pay it.

Example 2

If a trader chose to hold the position of the previous example for 8 hours and the mark price and Deribit index remained at USDC 10,007.50 and USDC 10,000 for the entire period, then the funding rate would be 0.05%.

The funding payment would be paid by the longs and received by the shorts.

For 8 hours, it would have been 5.00 USDC.

Example 3

If the mark price is USDC 10,007.50 for 1 minute and then changes to USDC 9,992.50 the minute after that, however, the Index remains at USDC 10,000, then the net funding in these 2 minutes for a 10,000 USDC long position is exactly 0 USDC.

After the first minute, the trader would pay:

1/480 * 0.05% * Position Size = 0.0001041667% * 10,000 = 0.01041667 USDC,

however, the minute after, the trader would receive exactly the same amount.

Example 4

The mark price is USDC 10,002, and the Index remains at USDC 10,000.

In this case, real-time funding is zero (0.00%) because the mark price is within the +/-0.025% range from the index price (within USDC 9,997.50 and USDC 10,002.50).

This can be checked by using the premium rate and funding rate formulas:

Premium Rate = ((10,002 - 10,000) / 10,000) * 100% = 0.02%

Funding Rate = Maximum (0.025%, Premium Rate) + Minimum (-0.025%, Premium Rate) = 0.025% - 0.025% = 0.00%

In reality, the spread of the Deribit Index and the mark price changes continuously, and all changes are taken into account. Therefore, the examples above are extreme simplifications of the actual calculations. The funding paid or received is continuously added to the realized PNL and is moved to or from the cash balance at the daily settlement, at 08:00 UTC.

Fees on Funding

Deribit does not charge any fees on funding. All the funding payments are transferred between the holders of the perpetual contracts. This makes the funding a zero-sum game, where longs receive all funding from shorts, or shorts receive all funding from longs.

Mark Price

When calculating unrealized profits and losses of futures contracts, not always the last traded price of the future is used.

To calculate the mark price, first, we must calculate the EMA (exponential moving average) of the difference between the bounded (around best bid and best ask) mid price and the Deribit Index.

The mark price is calculated as:

Index Price + EMA of the difference between bounded mid price and index price

Mark prices are determined by a mark-to-market model.

Allowed Trading Bandwidth

Two parameters act as a boundary to the allowed trading range:

Perpetual trades are limited by Deribit Index + 1 minute EMA (Bounded mid price - Index) +/- 1.5%, and a fixed bandwidth of the Deribit Index of +/- 7.5%.

If the market circumstances require so, bandwidth parameters can be adjusted at the sole discretion of Deribit.

Mis-Trade Rules

Due to various reasons, there can be a situation when perpetual contracts are traded at prices caused by an abnormal non-orderly market, with a high chance that one side of the trade has been done unwillingly. If a mistrade occurs at a price more than 2.5% away from the mark price, Deribit may adjust the prices or reverse the trades.

Please refer to Section 12 of the Exchange Rulebook for additional information.