Perpetual Futures Prop Firms:
Compare Perps Rules & Funding 2026

Perpetual futures, or perps, are derivative contracts that track an asset's price and have no expiry date. Because there is no settlement date, longs and shorts exchange a periodic funding payment that keeps the contract close to the underlying index price. Traders use them for leverage and for easy shorting, most often on crypto assets such as BTC and ETH.

Perps is short for perpetual futures, the crypto derivative contracts that have no expiry date and stay near spot through regular funding payments between longs and shorts. Traders hold perps instead of spot when they want leverage, to go short, or to avoid moving coins. Perps trade around the clock on both centralized and on-chain venues.

Perpetual futures work by letting you hold a leveraged long or short position with no expiry, backed by margin and marked against an index price. Every funding interval, traders on one side pay the other an amount based on the funding rate and position size. You stay in the trade until you close it or the position is liquidated.

Regular futures have a fixed expiry date and settle or roll, often on regulated exchanges such as CME, while perpetual futures never expire and use funding payments to stay aligned with spot. Perpetuals usually trade around the clock, including weekends, while dated futures keep exchange hours. Funding replaces the expiry convergence you would otherwise rely on.

Spot trading means buying the asset itself, while perpetual futures are a contract on its price that you can trade with leverage and short just as easily as you can buy. A spot position carries no funding payments or liquidation risk if unleveraged. A perpetual position can pay or earn funding and can be liquidated if margin runs out.

Bitcoin perpetual futures are contracts that track the price of BTC with no expiry date, and they are usually the deepest and most liquid perpetual market on any venue. You can go long or short with leverage, and you pay or receive funding at regular intervals. At a prop firm, BTC limits and fees are set by the firm.

Perpetual futures are now available to some US traders: in May 2026 the CFTC approved a Bitcoin perpetual contract listed by Kalshi, and similar regulated products may follow. Most offshore perpetual venues still exclude US persons. Prop firms set their own country rules regardless, so check a firm's eligibility terms and our guide to US and UK access before buying an evaluation.

Perpetual futures are high risk, mainly because leverage can magnify losses and a position can be liquidated quickly if the market moves against your margin. Funding adds a running cost or credit you may not expect, and thin markets can move sharply. At a prop firm the risk shifts to the evaluation fee, but your loss limit applies at all times.

A funding rate is a periodic payment between long and short holders of a perpetual futures contract, usually quoted as a small percentage of position size. When the rate is positive, longs pay shorts, and when it is negative, shorts pay longs. The rate moves with the gap between the contract price and the index price.

A positive funding rate means long positions pay short positions, which usually happens when the perpetual contract trades above its index because buyers are the more aggressive side. Traders often read a persistently high positive rate as crowded long positioning. It is a sign of positioning rather than a price forecast, and it costs longs for as long as it lasts.

A negative funding rate means short positions pay long positions, which usually happens when the perpetual contract trades below its index because sellers are the more aggressive side. Traders often read a persistently negative rate as crowded short positioning. A long position can earn funding in that state, but the funding received may not offset a further fall in price.

The funding rate is a positioning signal rather than a reliable bullish or bearish one: a high positive rate shows crowded longs and a negative rate shows crowded shorts, and either can continue for some time. Extremes can come before a sharp reversal when a crowded side is forced out, so most traders use funding alongside price and open interest.