Best Perpetual Exchanges for Crypto Futures

Perpetual exchanges right now

The exchanges we track handled $91.6B of perpetual futures volume in the last 24 hours, with $111B in open interest. Binance is the largest venue by volume with 36% of the total, and the top three (Binance, OKX, Gate.io) carry 61%. Decentralized exchanges account for 12.2% of market-wide perpetual volume, led by Hyperliquid. $153M of positions were liquidated over the same period, 77% of them longs.

What is a perpetual futures exchange?

A perpetual futures exchange, also called a perp exchange or crypto derivatives exchange, lists perpetual swaps: derivative contracts that track the price of an asset such as Bitcoin or Ethereum and never expire. You can go long or short with leverage and hold the position for as long as your margin covers it. BitMEX launched the first one, XBTUSD, in 2016; perpetuals are now the most traded instrument in crypto, well ahead of spot.

Because there is no expiry date, a perpetual stays close to the spot price through the funding rate. When the contract trades above spot, longs pay shorts; when it trades below, shorts pay longs. Most exchanges settle funding every eight hours, some every hour. Contracts are usually margined and settled in USDT or USDC; inverse contracts use the coin itself as collateral.

How to choose a crypto futures exchange

The best perpetual exchange for you is the highest-ranked one that legally serves your country. Then compare:

• Liquidity. Deep order books mean tighter spreads and less slippage on large orders. Binance leads here.
• Fees. Taker fees matter most if you trade with market orders; MEXC is the cheapest we rank. See the fee comparison.
• Custody. A CEX holds your funds; a perp DEX such as Hyperliquid lets you trade from your own wallet.
• Leverage and risk tools. Maximum leverage is a marketing number. Check isolated margin, stop-loss orders and the insurance fund instead.

How we rank perpetual exchanges

Each exchange gets a Coinperps score out of 10 from four factors, each scored 0 to 10 and weighted. Ties go to the deeper market:

• Depth and liquidity (30%). Will a large order fill near the quoted price? Order book depth, volume and open interest, slippage at size.
• Assets and features (30%). Can you trade what you want, the way you want? Market coverage, trading tools, listing speed, platform quality.
• Trading fees (20%). What does a round trip really cost? Base maker and taker, transparency, hidden costs, volume discounts.
• Regulation and security (20%). How safe is the money you leave on the platform? Licences, transparency, security record.

The volume, open interest, liquidation and funding columns above come straight from exchange APIs and refresh every few minutes. Read the full methodology.

Centralized vs decentralized perpetual exchanges

Centralized exchanges (CEXs) such as Bybit, Binance, Gate.io hold your funds, run their own matching engine and require identity checks. They carry most of the volume, the deepest order books and the widest choice of markets, plus fiat on-ramps, copy trading and portfolio margin.

Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) such as Hyperliquid, ApeX, dYdX settle trades on a blockchain. You trade from your own wallet, so the exchange never holds your money and there is usually no KYC. The trade-offs are smart-contract and oracle risk, thinner books on smaller markets and no customer support if something goes wrong. Hyperliquid, which runs a fully on-chain order book, is now the largest venue in this group. Track their share in the chart above, or compare every perp DEX on the top decentralized perpetual exchanges page.

Perpetual exchange fees explained

Maker fees apply to limit orders that rest on the order book and add liquidity. They are the lowest fee, often 0.02% or less, and some venues pay a rebate. Taker fees apply to market orders and limit orders that fill immediately; 0.04% to 0.06% is typical. On a $100,000 position, the difference between 0.02% and 0.05% is $30 each way.

Funding is paid between traders, not to the exchange, and can cost far more than trading fees if you hold a position for weeks against a crowded market. Liquidation fees are charged when the exchange force-closes a position and usually feed its insurance fund. Use the calculator above to compare the cost of a round trip at your size, then check the exchange's VIP table: most cut fees sharply above $1 million to $5 million of 30-day volume.

Where perpetual futures are legal

United Kingdom. The FCA has banned the sale of crypto derivatives, including perpetuals, to retail traders since January 2021. European Union. MiCA licenses crypto exchanges but does not cover derivatives, which fall under MiFID II, so a venue needs an investment-firm licence to offer perpetuals to EU residents. United States. Offshore exchanges block US residents. Regulated access is limited to CFTC-registered venues such as Coinbase Financial Markets, which offers perpetual-style futures with lower leverage. Asia-Pacific. Japan caps retail crypto leverage at 2x; Singapore and Hong Kong restrict retail derivatives to licensed firms.

Each exchange's review lists its licences and restricted countries. If an exchange does not serve your country, signing up with a VPN can get your account frozen and your funds held.