What is the difference between perpetual futures and expiry futures?

What are Perpetual Futures and Expiry Futures?

OKX Perpetual Futures are derivative products settled in crypto. Users can select long (buy) or short (sell) to profit from the price movements. They have no expiration date.

OKX Expiry Futures are derivative products settled in digital assets. Users can select long (buy) or short (sell) to profit from the price movements. They have a fixed settlement date.

The difference between Perpetual Futures and Expiry Futures

Expiration date: The main difference between both Futures is that Perpetual Futures have no expiration date, logically, they can be held indefinitely as long as the position does not get liquidated. In contrast, Expiry Futures contract has a fixed expiration date.

Funding Fee: Since Perpetual Futures have no expiration date, a “funding fee mechanism” is used to remain the futures price anchored to the spot price.

Price Setting: Perpetual Futures are pegged to Spot price and mark price is used to calculate users unrealized PnL, in order to reduce unnecessary frequent liquidations during volatile market.