> ## Documentation index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://hypertake.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What are perps?

> Perpetual futures on Hyperliquid explained: long and short, leverage, mark price and funding, with no expiry

Source: https://hypertake.net/docs/perps/what-are-perps · Last updated: 2026-10-17

**A perpetual future (a perp) is a contract that tracks the price of an asset, with no expiry date.** You go **long** to gain when the price rises or **short** to gain when it falls, put up only part of the position's value as margin (that's leverage), and keep the position open as long as your margin covers it.

On Hypertake, every perp is a Hyperliquid market: Hyperliquid's on-chain order book matches your order, holds your margin and settles your profit or loss. Hypertake is the interface that builds the order, shows you its liquidation price before you confirm, and lets you edit the position on the chart.

## How a perp makes or loses money

Your profit or loss is the size of your position times how far the price has moved since you entered. A long gains when the price goes up; a short gains when it goes down. Nothing is paid out at a fixed date: you realise the result when you close.

**Example: Priya goes long BTC at 10×**
- BTC is at 80,000. Priya puts in $100 of her own money at 10× leverage: a $1,000 position, 0.0125 BTC.
- BTC rises 5% to 84,000. Her position gains 0.0125 × 4,000 = $50: +50% on the $100 she put in.
- If BTC had fallen 5% to 76,000 instead, she'd be down $50: half her margin.
- Fees come off both ways: about $1.45 to open ($0.45 Hyperliquid at its base taker rate, $1.00 Hypertake at 0.1%) and about the same to close.

Flow: $100 margin × 10× → $1,000 long (0.0125 BTC) → BTC +5% → +$50 before fees and funding

## Perps and outcome markets side by side

Hypertake offers both, from one balance. They answer different questions: an outcome asks "will BTC be above 81,355 at 15:00?"; a perp simply follows BTC.

|  | Perps | Outcomes (HIP-4) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What you hold | A long or short position on a price | Yes or No shares on a question |
| Expiry | None: open until you close it or it's liquidated | A fixed close time, then settlement |
| Leverage | Yes, up to each market's maximum | None: every share is fully paid for |
| Most you can lose | Your margin (isolated) or, in cross, your available balance | What you paid for the shares |
| Liquidation | Yes, when margin runs out | Never |
| Ongoing cost | Funding, paid or received every hour | None |
| Hypertake fee | 0.1% of each order's value | $0 to buy, 1% to sell |

## The prices behind a perp

- **Mid**: Halfway between the best bid and best ask on Hyperliquid's book. Hypertake prices market orders from it and draws it on the chart.
- **Mark price**: Hyperliquid's fair price for the perp, a median of its own book and other exchanges' prices. It drives margin, liquidations, take profit and stop loss triggers and unrealised P&L ([Hyperliquid: robust price indices](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/trading/robust-price-indices)).
- **Oracle price**: A weighted median of spot prices from major exchanges, updated by Hyperliquid's validators about every three seconds. Funding is computed from it, not from the mark.
- **Entry**: Your average price in. Adding to a position moves it.

## Why the price stays close to spot

A perp never expires, so something has to keep it from drifting away from the real asset. That's **funding**: every hour, longs pay shorts when the perp trades above the oracle price, and shorts pay longs when it trades below. See [Funding](https://hypertake.net/docs/perps/funding.md).

> **Warning: Leverage cuts both ways**
> At 10×, a 10% move against you wipes out an isolated position's margin, and you're liquidated before that. Start with low leverage and read [Liquidation](https://hypertake.net/docs/perps/liquidation.md) before you size up.

- [Leverage and margin](https://hypertake.net/docs/perps/leverage-and-margin.md): What 10× means, and cross versus isolated.
- [Opening a position](https://hypertake.net/docs/perps/opening-a-position.md): Your first long or short, step by step.