Glossary
The words behind every order ticket.
Short, precise definitions of the perpetual futures, margin, and order terms you meet on Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Hyperliquid.
A
B
- Best bid and offer (BBO) The best bid and offer (BBO) is the highest buy price and the lowest sell price currently resting in the order book. It sets the spread and the price of a market order.
- Bid-ask spread The bid-ask spread is the gap between the highest bid and the lowest ask in an order book. It is a direct cost of trading with market orders.
C
- COIN-M futures COIN-M futures are Binance contracts margined and settled in the underlying cryptocurrency instead of a stablecoin. Learn how the inverse payoff works.
- Cross margin Cross margin uses your whole account balance as collateral for all open positions, so gains in one can offset losses in another. Compare it with isolated margin.
F
H
- Hedge mode Hedge mode lets an account hold a long and a short position in the same contract at the same time. Compare it with one-way (net) mode.
- HIP-3 (builder-deployed perpetuals) HIP-3 is the Hyperliquid improvement proposal that lets builders deploy their own perpetual markets, set the oracle and rules, and stake HYPE to do it.
I
- Index price Index price is a composite spot price built from several markets that derivatives exchanges use as a reference. Learn how it feeds mark price and funding.
- Initial margin Initial margin is the collateral required to open a leveraged position, equal to its notional value divided by leverage. See the formula and an example.
- Inverse perpetual An inverse perpetual is a perpetual future quoted in USD but margined and settled in the underlying coin, so PnL is paid in coin and is not linear in USD.
- IP whitelist An IP whitelist limits an exchange API key to requests from approved IP addresses. If the key leaks, requests from other addresses are refused.
- Isolated margin Isolated margin assigns a fixed amount of collateral to one position so that its loss is limited to that amount. Compare it with cross margin.
L
- Leverage Leverage lets you open a position larger than your collateral by borrowing exposure from the exchange. Learn how it changes gains, losses, and liquidation.
- Limit order A limit order buys or sells at a price you choose or better, and waits in the order book until the market reaches it. Compare it with a market order.
- Liquidation price The liquidation price is the mark price at which an exchange force-closes a leveraged position because margin is too low. Learn how it is estimated.
- Long and short Going long means buying to profit from a rising price. Going short means selling a contract to profit from a falling price. Learn how each side works.
M
- Maintenance margin Maintenance margin is the minimum equity a leveraged position must keep to avoid liquidation. See how it relates to initial margin, with an example.
- Maker and taker fees Maker and taker fees are the exchange charges for adding or removing liquidity. Makers rest orders on the book, and takers fill them, usually at a higher rate.
- Mark price Mark price is the reference price a derivatives exchange uses to value positions and trigger liquidations. Learn how it differs from last price.
- Market order A market order buys or sells immediately at the best available prices in the order book. Learn about slippage, taker fees, and size limits.
O
- Open interest Open interest is the total number of derivatives contracts that are open and not yet settled or closed. Learn how it differs from volume and how to read it.
- Order book An order book is a live list of all resting buy and sell orders for a market, sorted by price. It shows liquidity and where a market order will fill.
P
- Perpetual futures Perpetual futures are derivative contracts with no expiry date that track an asset price using a funding rate. Learn how they differ from dated futures and spot.
- Post-only A post-only order is a limit order that must rest on the order book as a maker order and is rejected or canceled if it would fill at once.
R
- Realized PnL Realized PnL is the profit or loss locked in by closing all or part of a position. It is the result of a closed trade, usually after fees.
- Reduce-only A reduce-only order can only decrease or close an existing position and never opens or flips one. Learn how it protects exits and how venues treat it.
- ROE (return on equity) ROE, return on equity, is a position's profit or loss divided by the margin used. It shows the result relative to your capital, which leverage magnifies.
S
- Slippage Slippage is the difference between the price you expect for an order and the price at which it actually fills. Learn the causes and how to limit it.
- Stop-limit order A stop-limit order places a limit order once price reaches a trigger level, so you control the worst fill price but may not get filled at all.
- Stop-loss order A stop-loss order closes a position automatically when price moves against you to a set level, to limit the loss. See how triggers and slippage work.
T
U
- Unified trading account (UTA) A unified trading account (UTA) pools collateral across spot, derivatives, and other products so that profit and loss in one can offset margin needs in another.
- Unrealized PnL Unrealized PnL is the profit or loss on an open position at the current mark price. It becomes realized only when you close the position.
- USD-M futures USD-M futures are Binance futures contracts quoted, margined, and settled in a stablecoin such as USDT or USDC. Learn how they differ from COIN-M futures.
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