What Are Perpetual Futures? A Trader's Guide to Perps | LeverUp Podcast

Perpetual futures are the dominant trading instrument across much of crypto — but a lot of people trade them without fully understanding how they work. This episode builds the mental model from scratch.We cover what makes perps different from standard futures (no expiry date, continuous funding mechanism), how the funding rate works as continuous arbitrage pressure that keeps perp prices anchored to spot, and what leverage actually means at the position level — including the math that explains why a 5% adverse move at 10× leverage causes a 50% loss on collateral. The episode also explains what you're actually trading against: the key structural differences between orderbook, LP pool, and protocol-managed liquidity settlement models, with honest tradeoffs for each.The episode closes with a collateral primer — why your collateral type matters for liquidation risk in ways that compound with leverage, and a glossary of key terms: leverage, margin, long, short, funding rate, liquidation, mark price, open interest.Figures mentioned reflect data at time of recording — check app.leverup.xyz for current rates and metrics.Links:- Trade on LeverUp: https://app.leverup.xyz- Full article: https://blog.leverup.xyz/what-are-perpetual-futures/