Perpetual futures are the backbone of crypto derivatives, allowing traders to speculate on assets without the constraints of expiration dates. Their funding rate mechanism keeps prices closely aligned with the spot market, supporting leveraged speculation and hedging.

For those trading coin-margined or USDT-settled contracts, selecting a platform with deep liquidity, competitive fees, and robust security is critical to ensuring efficient execution and risk management.

Best Perpetual Futures Exchanges

The table below highlights the top five perpetual futures platforms, assessed on trading volume, liquidity, fees, leverage, and supported assets, based on our research and hands-on testing.

1. Bybit

Bybit is the most popular perpetual futures platform, known for its liquidity and support for coin-margined and USDT-settled contracts. It offers a best-in-class unified trading account that enables cross-margining from a single margin pool, optimizing capital allocation across spot, futures, and options positions.

The platform offers over 1,500 spot assets and 500+ perpetual contracts with leverage up to 100x. It also provides traders with advanced tools and order types, including TWAP, Iceberg Orders, Scaled Orders, and more, to support diverse trading strategies.

Bybit supports crypto and fiat deposits via bank transfers, cards, and digital wallets. The deepest liquidity and highest open interest are in its USDT-margined contracts, with daily trading volumes exceeding $55 billion.

Key Features:

• Fees: Market makers pay as little as 0.01%, while takers incur a 0.06% fee.
• Supported Assets: Supports over 1,500 spot assets and 500+ perpetual contracts.
• Deposit Methods: Accepts bank transfers, credit/debit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay.
• Available Leverage: Offers up to 100x leverage on perpetual contracts (Maximum varies depending on market capitalization).

2. Hyperliquid

Hyperliquid is the leading decentralized platform for perpetual futures, capturing over 40% of on-chain DEX volume with $3 billion in daily trading activity. Built on its proprietary Hyperliquid L1 chain, it offers a seamless trading experience through a decentralized Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) architecture, eliminating the need for KYC.

The platform supports 130+ assets with up to 50x leverage. Its fee structure includes 0.2% maker rebates and taker fees starting at 0.05%, with revenue directed to $HYPE token buybacks and community rewards.

Traders can deposit USDC via MetaMask and other Web3 wallets, ensuring 24/7 access. Hyperliquid’s focus on transparency and performance has positioned it as the top decentralized exchange for perpetual futures, surpassing competitors like dYdX and GMX.

Key Features:

• Fees: 0.2% maker rebates and taker fees starting at 0.05%, with discounts for high-volume traders.
• Supported Assets: Access to 130+ cryptocurrencies, with new assets added regularly.
• Deposit Methods: Accepts USDC deposits via MetaMask, Coinbase, and other Web3 wallets.
• Available Leverage: Up to 50x leverage on all trading pairs.

3. Binance

Binance dominates the crypto futures market, processing $65 billion in daily derivatives volume and offering over 250 futures contracts. It supports both USDⓈ-Margined contracts (settled in USDT or USDC) and COIN-Margined contracts (settled in cryptocurrency).

Traders benefit from up to 25x leverage, with maker fees starting at 0.02% and taker fees at 0.06%, plus volume-based VIP discounts. The Portfolio Margin Program enhances capital efficiency by consolidating balances across USDⓈ-Margined and COIN-Margined wallets.

Binance’s infrastructure includes robust risk management features like Auto-Deleveraging (ADL), critical for COIN-Margined contracts with smaller insurance funds. Combining deep liquidity, competitive fees, and institutional-grade execution, Binance is a top choice for sophisticated investors.

Key Features:

• Fees: Maker fees start at 0.02%, with taker fees at 0.06%. Volume-based VIP discounts reduce costs for active traders.
• Supported Assets: Access to over 250 futures contracts and more than 300 spot trading pairs.
• Deposit Methods: Accepts bank transfers, crypto deposits, credit/debit cards, and payment platforms like WeChat Pay.
• Available Leverage: Offers up to 25x leverage across all futures contracts.

4. MEXC

MEXC leads the crypto derivatives market with unmatched leverage of up to 300x on USDT-M and Coin-M margined perpetual contracts. With over 600 trading pairs and $4 billion in daily volume, the platform provides deep liquidity and tight spreads, even for less-traded assets.

The Copy Trading feature allows users to follow and replicate strategies from top-performing traders, making futures trading accessible to beginners. With over $1 billion in total copied trades and 2 million transactions, it highlights MEXC’s focus on user-friendly innovation.

The platform’s competitive fee structure includes zero maker fees and 0.02% taker fees, though slightly shallower liquidity and open interest may occasionally lead to less favorable execution.

Key Features:

• Fees: Zero maker fees and 0.02% taker fees.
• Supported Assets: Over 600 perpetual futures trading pairs.
• Deposit Methods: Bank transfers, cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay and crypto deposits.
• Available Leverage: Up to 300x leverage on perpetual contracts.

5. Gate.io

Gate.io is the top futures platform for altcoins, offering over 700 pairs and daily volumes around $10 billion. Renowned for quickly listing trending tokens like AI agents, memes, and Layer 1s like Sui, Aptos, and Hyperliquid, it draws traders seeking early entries in emerging markets.

Advanced features like TWAP, Iceberg orders, and trading bots enhance its offering, while copy trading allows users to replicate top-performing strategies. High-speed matching engines and risk management ensure reliable performance during volatile conditions.

Based in Seychelles, Gate.io operates offshore, offering global access while navigating a less regulated environment. This flexibility comes with risks but positions the platform to cater to traders in underserved markets.

Key Features:

• Fees: Maker fees at 0.02%, taker fees at 0.05%, with VIP discounts depending on 30 day volume.
• Supported Assets: Over 700 supported perpetual contracts on majors and altcoins.
• Deposit Methods: Bank transfers, cards and crypto deposits supported via Web3 wallets like MetaMask.
• Available Leverage: Up to 125x on select pairs.

What are Crypto Futures and Perpetual Contracts?

Crypto futures are derivative contracts with fixed expiration dates, allowing traders to speculate on or hedge cryptocurrency prices. Perpetual contracts, a variant without expiration, enable indefinite position holding and dominate crypto derivatives trading due to their efficiency.

Perpetuals use funding rates and payments between longs and shorts to keep prices aligned with spot markets, eliminating rollover costs. This mechanism ensures tight tracking of spot prices, making them ideal for leveraged speculation and hedging.

Their high liquidity and leverage amplify market efficiency, enabling price discovery and risk management. Centralized exchanges lead in volume, though decentralized perpetuals platforms are emerging.

The History of Perpetual Futures

Perpetual futures debuted in 2016 with BitMEX’s XBTUSD swap, offering indefinite Bitcoin/USD trading and up to 100x leverage. These contracts eliminated expirations and rollover costs, using funding rates to align with spot market prices.

By 2020, perpetuals became the most traded crypto derivative, driven by flexibility and deep liquidity on centralized exchanges like Binance and Bybit. Decentralized exchanges later adopted perpetuals, leveraging smart contracts and oracles for non-custodial trading.

Today, perpetual futures account for over $400 billion in daily trading volume, nearly ten times the $50 billion in spot markets. They drive liquidity and price discovery across the market.

Perpetual Contract Trading Fees

Perpetual contract fees consist of funding rates and transaction fees, both critical to trading costs and market functionality. These fees align contract prices with spot markets and support leveraged trading.

Key costs associated with perpetual futures trading:

• Funding Fees: Calculated as Funding Rate × Notional Position Size, charged periodically (e.g., every 8 hours on CEXs, hourly on some DEXs). Positive rates mean longs pay shorts, and negative rates reverse the flow.
• Transaction Fees: Applied as a percentage of trade value, typically 0.02%-0.06%, with discounts for high-volume traders.
• Base Rates: Reflect borrowing costs and are integrated into funding rate calculations on some platforms.
• Clamp Functions: Cap funding rate variability to limit extreme fees during volatility.
• Annualized Rates: Funding rates are often expressed as annualized percentages (e.g., 0.01% per 8 hours equals 10.95% annually) for consistency.

These mechanisms stabilize pricing, facilitate arbitrage, and enhance liquidity across perpetual futures markets.

USDT-M vs Coin-M Perpetual Contracts

USDT-M contracts, settled in stablecoins like USDT, dominate with over 70% of trading volume due to deeper liquidity, tighter spreads, and consistent USD-based pricing. They offer simpler risk management and position sizing, making them ideal for most traders.

Coin-M contracts, settled in the underlying cryptocurrency, cater to traders seeking to hedge or accumulate the base asset. These contracts have less liquidity, leading to wider spreads and higher slippage, but are effective for asset-focused strategies.

Final Thoughts

The choice of a perpetual futures platform directly impacts trading costs, execution quality, and risk management. 

Bybit and Binance dominate with the deepest liquidity and trading features, while Hyperliquid offers a decentralized alternative with self-custody for traders seeking greater control.

Knowing the differences between USDT-M and Coin-M contracts, along with fee structures, helps traders choose platforms that best suit their trading style.