Overview of OKX USDT Perpetual Contracts
The USDT perpetual contracts offered by OKX are a special type of cryptocurrency derivative. The key difference from traditional futures contracts is that they have no fixed expiration date. This means traders can hold their positions indefinitely, provided they meet the margin requirements.Its core settlement mechanism is not based on expiration and physical delivery, but rather uses a “funding rate” to maintain the contract price’s peg to the spot price of the underlying asset.
Funding Rate Mechanism
The funding rate is a key component of the OKX perpetual contract settlement process. It is a fee exchanged periodically between long and short positions, designed to incentivize the contract price to converge with the spot price.When the contract price is higher than the spot price, the funding rate is positive, and long positions pay short positions; when the contract price is lower than the spot price, the funding rate is negative, and short positions pay long positions.
- Settlement Frequency: By default, funding fees are settled every 8 hours at 00:00, 08:00, and 16:00 UTC. It is worth noting that the settlement interval for some contracts may be adjusted to 1, 2, or 4 hours.
- Formula Revisions: OKX revised the funding rate calculation formula for perpetual contracts in April 2025 and on May 29, 2026, introducing an 8/N factor, where N represents the funding settlement interval (in hours).
- Funding Fee Calculation: The formula for the funding fee that traders actually pay or receive is: Funding Fee = Position Size × Mark Price × Current Funding Rate.
Real-Time Settlement Feature
To improve capital efficiency, OKX launched the real-time settlement feature for all USDT-margin perpetual contracts, futures, and options contracts effective January 20, 2021.This means that the profits and losses realized by traders from contract trading are immediately credited to their account balances and can be withdrawn at any time, without having to wait for traditional fixed settlement times.
OKX’s Role in Settlement
As a trading platform, OKX acts as a neutral facilitator in the funding rate settlement process. The platform is responsible for facilitating the exchange of funding fees between long and short positions and does not charge any service fees itself.OKX sets and adjusts the funding rate calculation formula based on market conditions. Additionally, the platform uses a marked price to calculate unrealized P&L to avoid unnecessary liquidations during periods of extreme market volatility. Under extreme market conditions, OKX reserves the right to temporarily suspend some or all fund transfer functions or real-time settlement functions for contract accounts to maintain market stability.
Stock Perpetual Contracts
In addition to cryptocurrency perpetual contracts, OKX also offers stock perpetual contracts collateralized with USDT. The margin requirements, funding rates, and liquidation rules for these contracts are essentially the same as those for cryptocurrency perpetual contracts, providing traders with more diversified trading options.
