- People are enticed by chance to earn significant on minor moves.
- The value of a derivative is derived from the underlying asset’s value.
In recent years, cryptocurrency traders have been increasingly using perpetual swaps, a derivative trading instrument with daily trading volumes exceeding $180 billion. Perpetual swaps were first introduced on May 13, 2016, and they allow traders to take on considerable holdings in a cryptocurrency with minimal money invested. People are enticed by chance to earn significant on minor moves, but they also have to take on a great level of risk to reap the advantages.
The value of a derivative is derived from the underlying asset’s value. Therefore, derivatives like futures and options can speculate on the importance of assets while the contract is held. In a way, this is similar to futures contracts, which enable investors to bet on the future price of a cryptocurrency by taking on the obligation to purchase or sell an asset at a fixed price on a particular day in the future.
Fundamentally Different From Traditional Futures
When two parties agree to sell and purchase an asset at an agreed-upon price in the future, the term “futures contract” comes to mind. When two parties agree on a future price for an asset, future contracts enable them to do so.
As with futures contracts, traders may speculate on the future price swings of cryptocurrencies through a permanent swap. Because perpetual swaps have no expiry dates, they are fundamentally different from traditional futures contracts. If you have a long or short position, you don’t have to keep setting it up over and again.
Buying perpetual swaps and then selling them at a profit in the future allows traders to accumulate bitcoin. For example, consider one BTC price to be $40k and suppose investors want to acquire two BTC/USD perpetual swaps for $80,000 by depositing $80,000 as collateral.
A BTC/USD permanent swap is thus worth $40,000 in total. Each perpetual swap acquired by the investor will have created a $10,000 profit if the price of bitcoin increases consistently to $50,000 the following month and the investor chooses to liquidate her investment. It’s estimated that investors would make about $20,000.
