Fees & Contract Specifications for PrimeBit Perpetual Contracts

What is a perpetual contract and how does it work?

A perpetual contract (or perpetual swap) is a crypto derivative that tracks the price of an underlying asset such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Litecoin without ever expiring. Unlike traditional or quarterly futures, there is no settlement date and no delivery of the underlying coin — you can hold a long or short position for as long as you keep enough margin to support it. On PrimeBit you trade BTCUSD, ETHUSD and LTCUSD perpetuals on a BTC-margined account, or BTCUSDT, ETHUSDT and LTCUSDT linear perpetuals on a USDT-margined account, both with leverage of up to 200x.

Perpetual contracts vs. traditional futures

Traditional futures converge to spot at expiry, forcing you to roll positions to stay in the market. A perpetual contract stays anchored to the spot index price through a recurring funding rate instead, so the contract price never drifts far from the real market. That makes perpetuals the most flexible way to trade crypto with leverage — long or short, up or down.

Funding rate explained — how the 8-hour funding fee is calculated

The funding rate is a small periodic payment exchanged directly between traders — it is peer-to-peer, PrimeBit takes no cut. When the rate is positive, longs pay shorts; when it is negative, shorts pay longs. This keeps the perpetual price tethered to the underlying spot index. On PrimeBit, funding is settled every 8 hours, and you only pay or receive funding if you are holding an open position at the funding timestamp.

The funding rate is derived from two components — the interest rate and the premium index — using the industry-standard formula:

Funding Rate = Premium Index (P) + clamp(Interest Rate (I) − P, −0.05%, +0.05%)

Funding Payment = Position Value × Funding Rate

Because funding is charged on notional position value (not your margin), holding highly leveraged positions through several funding intervals can add up — something worth factoring into any swing or carry strategy.

Mark price, index price and last price

PrimeBit uses a dual-price mechanism to protect traders from unfair liquidations caused by temporary wicks or thin order books.

• Index price — a spot reference built from an equal-weighted basket of major exchanges (Bitstamp, Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini for the BTC account; Binance, Bitfinex, Huobi, Kraken, OKEx and Poloniex for the USDT account).
• Mark price / fair price — the index price adjusted for funding basis. Your unrealised PnL and your liquidation are calculated against this fair price, not the last traded price.
• Last price — the price of the most recent trade on the contract, used only to fill your orders.

Using fair price for liquidation means a single manipulated tick on the order book will not close your position.

Margin, liquidation and leverage up to 200x

Initial margin is the collateral required to open a position (position value ÷ leverage). Maintenance margin is the minimum you must keep to hold it. When your margin ratio falls to the maintenance level, the position is liquidated at the fair price.

It is important to understand the difference between the liquidation price (where maintenance margin is exhausted) and the bankruptcy price (where your position equity reaches zero). With isolated margin you can never lose more than the margin assigned to a position; higher leverage moves your liquidation price closer to your entry, so size positions accordingly.

Insurance fund and Auto-Deleveraging (ADL)

If a position is liquidated below its bankruptcy price, the shortfall is covered by PrimeBit’s insurance fund. Only when the insurance fund cannot absorb the loss does the Auto-Deleveraging (ADL) system step in, closing opposing positions ranked by profit and leverage at the bankruptcy price. This shared risk model is how a P2P contract exchange stays solvent without socialised clawbacks.

Trading fees — maker and taker

PrimeBit uses a simple, transparent maker–taker fee schedule that applies across every BTC and USDT contract:

A maker order rests on the book and adds liquidity; a taker order fills immediately against the book and removes it. Placing limit orders as a maker is the simplest way to keep your trading costs down. Referred users receive a 10% discount on trading fees for the first six months.