Polymarket Perps
Perpetual futures on indices, commodities, crypto and equities — long or short, with leverage, no expiry date. Here's how they work, what they cost, and how they differ from the prediction markets you already know.
What are Polymarket Perps?
Perps (perpetual futures) are contracts that track an underlying asset — an index, commodity, crypto asset or equity — and trade continuously with no expiry or resolution date. Instead of betting on an outcome, you take a leveraged long or short position on price itself, collateralized in pUSD (minimum 10 pUSD deposit). An hourly funding mechanism keeps the contract price anchored to the underlying's index price.
No expiry
Positions run until you close them — or until margin runs out. No event, no resolution, no settlement date.
Leverage, long or short
Control more notional than your collateral, in either direction. Max leverage is set per market (up to 20x on crypto, index and commodity markets, 10x on single stocks, as of Sept 2026).
Hourly funding
Longs and shorts pay each other every hour to keep the perp near its index price — the carrying cost (or yield) of holding.
Perps vs Predictions
Prediction Markets
- › Binary YES/NO shares priced 0–$1, resolving to $1 or $0 at a known date
- › No leverage — max loss is exactly what you paid, only at resolution
- › Zero holding cost: park a thesis for months for free
- › No liquidation — you can always hold to settlement
- › Rewards probability judgment on events
Perps
- › Continuous mark-to-market P&L on price — no resolution, ever
- › Leverage up to the market's cap; margin can be cross or isolated
- › Funding accrues hourly — holding has a cost (or a yield)
- › Liquidation engine closes you out if equity falls below maintenance margin
- › Rewards entries, exits, sizing and risk control
Fees, funding & liquidation
As of September 2026, per docs.polymarket.com/perps. Parameters are per-market and can change — always confirm in the app.
Trading fees
Charged per fill on notional (price × quantity), in pUSD. Tiered by trailing 30-day volume:
Top tier includes a maker rebate. Liquidation fills pay an extra per-market liquidation fee on top of the normal rate.
Funding
- › Settles every hour, directly between longs and shorts — no protocol fee
- › Perp trading above index → longs pay shorts; below index → shorts pay longs
- › Rate built from order-book premium sampling (every 5s) plus a small fixed interest leg; hourly rate capped at ±4%
- › Payment scales with notional — at high leverage, persistent funding meaningfully drains equity
Margin & liquidation
- › Equity = collateral + unrealized P&L (at mark price) − fees & funding due
- › Initial margin = notional ÷ leverage. Maintenance margin = 0.5 ÷ max leverage (2.5% of notional on a 20x market)
- › Equity below initial margin → margin call: reduce or deposit only
- › Equity below maintenance margin → automatic liquidation via reduce-only orders, with liquidation fees; insurance fund and auto-deleveraging backstop the extremes
Getting access
Eligibility first: per Polymarket's official documentation, Perps order placement is blocked in the United States and Canada (plus sanctioned jurisdictions) — market data is viewable, but you cannot trade. The main platform carries separate restrictions in the UK, Australia and elsewhere. If you're in a restricted region, Perps won't be tradable for you, and circumventing geo-restrictions violates Polymarket's terms.
Perps launched broadly on September 3, 2026 (in beta since April). During the rollout, access may still require a valid Perps referral link or code — applied automatically when you open Perps through one. You'll need a Polymarket account and at least 10 pUSD to fund the dedicated Perps balance.
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Ready to trade Perps?
Start small, use isolated margin while you learn, and know your liquidation distance before you click buy.