BitMEX offers Linear Perpetual Contracts in Tether. This allows exposure to the price of an asset, without needing to hold the asset directly as it only requires Tether as margin.
Linear Perpetual Contracts
The following information assumes usage of the “COINUSDT” perpetual contract as examples. Information is generalisable to all Linear Perpetual contracts, but some may have different multipliers. Please check the contract specifications directly for that information.
How Are Linear Perpetuals Quoted?
COINUSDT perpetual’s underlying is the COINUSDT exchange rate as recorded in the underlying Index. The COINUSDT perpetuals are quoted in Tether and all margin and PNL calculations are denominated in Tether.
| Contract Calculations | |
|---|---|
| Multiplier | 0.000001 USDT |
| USDT Value | COINUSDT Perpetual Price * Multiplier |
| USD Value | USDT Value * .BUSDT Spot Price |
| PnL Calculation | # Contracts * Multiplier * (Exit Price - Entry Price) |
Margin and Leverage
COINUSDT perpetual margin is posted in Tether, which means traders can go long or short contracts using only Tether. Most Linear Perpetuals feature a leverage between 20x and 100x.
Settlement
As this contract is perpetual, there is no settlement (subject to the Early Settlement). Marking for Unrealised PNL and Liquidation purposes are done according to the Fair Price Marking system.
Note also: since this product is a perpetual contract, funding occurs every 8 hours. Please see the Funding Section in the Perpetual Contracts Guide for information, and for the current rates please see Funding Calculation in the Contract Specifications.
COINUSDT Perpetual Contract Example
A trader wants to go long 1,000,000 USDT of COINUSDT perpetual contracts, which trades at 5,000.00 USDT. As the leverage is 50x, the trader only needs 20,000 USDT of margin for this trade.
The trader must buy 200,000,000 contracts:
1,000,000 USDT / (5,000 USDT * 0.000001).A few days later, the price rises to 6,000 USDT and the trader sells all their contracts.
The trader’s profit will be:
200,000,000 * 0.000001 * (6,000 - 5,000) = 200,000 USDT