# Perpetuals

Perpetuals Markets on XYM Perpetual futures contracts within XYM are derivatives designed for users to speculate on the price movements of crypto assets without requiring the delivery of the underlying asset. Unlike traditional futures contracts, perpetual futures in XYM do not have an expiration date and can be held indefinitely.

The contract price in XYM is tied to the spot price of the underlying asset through funding rates. These rates regulate the incentive to trade long or short by imposing a positive or negative carry cost on a specific perpetual position.

In cases where a perpetual's price exceeds the spot price, traders holding long positions (anticipating an increase in price) must pay a funding fee to traders with short positions (anticipating a decrease in price). This funding fee helps realign the perpetual price with the spot price. Conversely, when the perpetual's price is lower than the spot price, short traders are obligated to pay a funding fee to long traders, encouraging opposite behavior.

XYM's perpetual products are primarily utilized for speculation and risk-hedging purposes, representing one of the most popular futures products in crypto markets. XYM's perpetuals empower traders to go long or short on crypto assets with leverage of up to 10X, enhancing price exposure or hedging risk.

Perpetual markets on XYM operate 24/7, allowing users to buy or sell assets at any time while maintaining custody of spot assets on-chain. All perpetual products within XYM utilize USDC as the primary collateral. Users can offer other spot assets as collateral in the Money Market, leveraging XYM's cross-margin system to support perpetual positions.
