The difference between Perpetual Futures and spot trading in 2025

2025 Updates and Trends

The perpetual futures market in 2025 shows significant evolution compared to the spot market:

Advanced trading algorithms now allow for automated position management with real-time risk assessment. AI-driven market analysis integration provides traders with enhanced decision-making tools not available in traditional spot markets. Gate continues to enhance these features while maintaining robust risk management protocols across all trading products.

The difference between Perptual Futures and spot trading

spot trading

spot trading refers to the immediate buying and selling of assets, allowing traders to purchase or sell digital assets (such as BTC, ETH, etc.) at the market price instantly. Spot trading does not offer leverage; traders can only invest and trade using their own funds. In spot trading, traders can only profit when prices rise.

Perptual Futures

Perptual Futures This involves buying and selling assets at a predetermined price, but with no expiration date. Traders can choose to buy or sell assets at a fixed price at any time. The main features of Perptual Futures trading include:
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Leverage Traders can use leverage, only requiring a small amount of capital, with the rest provided by the exchange or broker, by submitting only a portion of collateral. After the trade, the borrowed amount needs to be repaid.
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Profit Scenario Regardless of whether the price goes up or down, traders have the opportunity to profit. Traders can predict price fluctuations based on market conditions, and if their predictions are correct, they can make a profit.
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Liquidity The liquidity in the Perptual Futures market is usually higher than in the Spot market, which means the risk of loss is lower and the opportunities for profit are greater.
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Price Structure The price of Perpetual Futures includes the cost of holding positions, which depends on when the trader closes the position (ends the trade). Although the cost of trading Perpetual Futures may be higher, the profit potential is usually greater.

Summary

• spot trading More suitable for beginners, as it does not require complex strategies and the trading method is intuitive and easy to understand.
• Perptual Futures trading More suitable for experienced traders. Before engaging in Perpetual Futures trading, it is usually necessary to develop a trading plan and analyze various factors such as market trends, risks, and return ratios.

If you are interested in participating in Perptual Futures trading, it is recommended to start with spot trading to grasp the basics before diving deeper into contract trading.