We list the trading sites with the highest crypto derivative futures leverage.
- MEXC Global and BYDFi offers the crypto max leverage, up to 200x.
- Bybit offers leverage up to 125x
- The other platforms offer future leverage of up to 100x
List: Highest Leverage Crypto Trading Sites
See the max leverage per trading site.
- Trading
- Leverage
- SignUp
MEXC Global – High Leverage and Low Fees
- Up to 200x leverage on USDT-M perpetual futures
- Up to 125x on COIN-M perpetual futures
- 0% Spot Maker & Taker Fees – Lowest crypto spot market trading fees
- 0% Futures Maker Fee, 0.01% Taker Fee
- Highest non-KYC withdrawal limits
- $1000 Signup bonus
- Many crypto trading competitions and contests
BYDFi – High Leverage for USA and Canada Users
BYDFi is one of few crypto trading sites with derivatives available for the USA, Canada, and Singapore.
Here, you can trade with leverage up to 200x, one of the maximum leverage you can find among all crypto trading sites.
More Pros with BYDFi
- Possible to trade with no KYC
- Leveraged Tokens available
- Free Demo Trading
- Copy Trading
Kucoin Bitcoin BTC Perpetual Trading
Kucoin is ranked as the 10th crypto exchange regarding the number of listed perpetual crypto trading pairs.
Kucoin Perpetual Trading Fees
There are two different Kucoin perpetual trading fees
- Trading fees for opening and closing a perpetual contract
- Funding rate to maintain your position
Read more about the definitions of the crypto perpetual trading fees further down in the article.
In the screenshot below, you can see where to find the current funding rate and when the next funding rate payment is due.
To get to the screen, click “Derivatives” and “Futures Classic” in the top menu.
Kucoin perpetual maker fee starts at 0.02% and the taker fee starts at 0.06%.
You can pay lower Kucoin perpetual fees by
- Trade larger volumes
- Hold the Kucoin token
- Use our referral link
Read more about Kucoin trading fees.
Kucoin Perpetual Trading Pros and Cons
Pros
- Low trading fees
- Good reputation and trading platform interface
- Excellent welcome bonus and other offers
- 100x leverage available for Bitcoin BTC and Ethereum ETH perpetuals
Cons
- Not as many listed perpetual contracts as other crypto exchanges
- Not as good trading volume as some other crypto exchanges
Bybit Bitcoin BTC Perpetual Trading
Bybit is a great place to trade Bitcoin BTC and other crypto perpetual contracts with a leverage up to 20x.
Here, you get the exchange with the 3rd most trading volume for crypto derivative markets and the 6th crypto trading site regarding the number of listed perpetual contracts.
All in all, Bybit is one of the best crypto leverage trading platforms.
Bybit Perpetual Trading Fees and Funding Fees
Bybit charges trading fees and funding fees for perpetual trading. If you are interested in finding the lowest fees for perpetuals, see our article about the crypto exchanges with the lowest derivative trading fees.
Bybit perpetual trading fees
- USDC Perpetuals: The maker fee starts at 0.01% and the taker fee at 0.075%
- USDT Perpetuals and Inverse Perpetuals: The maker fee starts at 0.01% and the taker fee at 0.06%
Bybit Perpetual Trading Pros and Cons
Pros
- Low maker fee
- Many listed perpetual contracts
- USDT, USDC, and inverse perpetual contracts are available
- High trading volume
Cons
- Lowest leverage accessible 20x for Bitcoin BTC among the compared sites
Gate io Bitcoin BTC Perpetual Trading
Gate.io is the best crypto perpetual trading site for listed markets to trade. However, despite having the most documented needs, Gate.io only ranks as the 11th crypto trading site regarding derivatives trading volume.
Gate.io Perpetual Trading Fees
As for most exchanges, Gate.io charges trading fees and funding fees for perpetual contracts.
Gate.io Perpetual Trading Fees
The maker fee starts at 0.02% and the taker fee at 0.06%
See the full crypto trading fee schedule from Gate.io.
Gate.io perpetual funding fees and funding rate
To find out the Gate.io perpetual funding rate, go to
- Trade
- Futures
- USDT-M Futures
- Select your perpetual contract in the dropdown
Gate.io Perpetual Trading Pros and Cons
Pros
- Most listed perpetual contracts of the compared exchanges
- Pay up to 70% fewer fees with the Gate.io points
Cons
- Only 12th place on Coingecko in derivative trading volume and almost most listed perpetual and futures markets combined.
BTCC Bitcoin BTC Perpetual Trading
BTCC is one of few crypto trading sites allowing US and CA users to trade crypto derivatives.
- The same trading fee for the maker and taker
- Trading fees start at 0.065% and go down to 0.03%
- The highest bonus amount among all crypto trading sites
Binance Bitcoin BTC Perpetual Trading
Binance is the number one trading platform for most crypto trading instruments and products.
The only main drawback is that they are not transparent with what trading products they offer in what countries. So this is a trial and error game to determine if you are eligible for trading futures, perpetual, options, or any other derivative on Binance.
Binance Perpetual Trading Fees
Binance has among the lowest listed Bitcoin BTC perpetual trading fees.
Binance perpetual trading fees
- Increase trading volume or hold Binance Coin BNB on your account
- Pay the fees with BNB
- Use our referral code to get -20% on all fees
- Trade BUSD perpetual instead of USDT perpetuals
Binance Perpetual Trading Pros and Cons
Pros
- Most trading volume for crypto derivative markets among all crypto exchanges
- Number 3rd crypto exchange in terms of the number of listed perpetual markets
Cons
- Not transparent with who or what countries are eligible for trading perpetuals, futures, options, and other derivatives on Binance
Crypto Perpetuals Contracts Summary
Bitcoin BTC Perpetuals VS Futures
Bitcoin BTC perpetuals and Bitcoin BTC futures are contracts between two parties, and they obligate the parties to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined future price.
While there is no specific date for perpetual contracts, futures contracts also have a predetermined date when they expire and are settled.
Perpetual Contracts VS Margin Trading
- Crypto margin trading trades crypto assets from the spot market with borrowed funds. It allows traders to access more significant capital and leverage their positions.
- A perpetual futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price in the future. Traders can go long or short on a perpetual futures contract.
- Margin trading and perpetual futures allow traders to amplify their profits using leverage.
- Margin trading place orders in the spot market, while perpetual trading place orders in the derivative market (two separate order books)
- Both margin trading and perpetual contracts require a margin
- Both margin and perpetual futures come with a trading fee. Margin trading is the same as spot trading. Future trading has its trading fee schedule
- For margin trading, you repay the borrowed funds and the interest when closing a position, while perpetual futures have a maintenance margin (funding fee)
See more of the best crypto margin trading exchanges and platforms.
Perpetual Contracts VS Leveraged Tokens
The most significant differences between perpetual contracts and leveraged tokens are
- Perpetual contracts need a margin, while leveraged tokens don’t
- Perpetual contracts can be liquidated, while leveraged tokens can’t
- Perpetual contracts usually allow trading up to 100x, while leveraged tokens have leverage of around 3x-5x
- Leveraged tokens can be bought/sold and purchased/redeemed, while perpetual can only be traded on the open market
Read more about the best leveraged tokens crypto trading sites.
What is Bitcoin BTC Perpetual Initial Margin?
Crypto perpetual contracts offer the trader the possibility to trade on margin.
To trade on margin is the same as using leverage. However, the trader can put only part of the notional value (in USD equivalents) in the margin.
Initial margin is the minimum value you must pay to open a crypto perpetual leveraged position.
For example:
You can buy 1 Bitcoin BTC with an initial margin of 0.1 BTC (at 10x leverage). So your initial margin would be 10% of the total order. The initial margin backs your position and is also called collateral.
However, keeping the maintenance margin level is essential to avoid a margin call that could lead to a liquidation of the position.
What is Perpetual Maintenance Margin and Margin Call?
To keep trading positions open, the crypto perpetual maintenance margin is the minimum collateral you must hold on your futures account.
If your margin balance drops below the maintenance margin level, you will either receive a margin call (asking you to add more funds to your future account) or be liquidated.
What is a perpetual contract liquidation?
If the value of the perpetual contract falls below the maintenance margin, your contract will be liquidated, and the funds will be used to pay the margin lender.
Ensure you understand the liquidation process and level before you trade since these rules differ on different exchanges.
How to avoid perpetual contract liquidation?
There are two ways to avoid liquidation if you get a margin call:
- You can close your positions before the liquidation price is reached
- You can add more funds to your collateral balance – causing the liquidation price to move further from the current market price.
Crypto Perpetuals Contracts Fees
There are two different fees you have to pay for trading crypto perpetual contracts
- Trading fees for opening and closing a perpetual contract
- Funding fees to keep a perpetual contract open
Bitcoin BTC Perpetuals Trading Fees
In perpetual crypto contracts, trading fees are paid for opening and closing a contract
The equation is calculated as follows:
The fee to Open a Perpetual Contract = (Contract Quantity x Entry Price) x Trading Fee Rate
The fee to Close a Perpetual Contract= (Contract Quantity x Exit Price) x Trading Fee Rate
Bitcoin BTC Perpetual Funding Fees
The perpetual funding fees keep the contract prices at par with the spot market prices.
If the Bitcoin spot market price is $30.000, the funding fees will try to keep the perpetual contracts close to $30.000 as well.
Generally, there is an oscillating price marker to determine whether long or short traders need to pay fees or receive rebates.
If the price of a perpetual contract is above the spot price of the underlying digital assets, the funding rate is positive.
In this case, traders holding long positions would pay a small fee to those shorting the digital assets.
In contrast, a perpetual contract trading below the spot price of its underlying asset has a negative funding rate. Here, those shorting perpetual swaps would pay traders holding long positions.
The funding fees are often around 0.01%.
For example, if the funding rate of a BTC/USD perpetual swap is +0.010%, a trader longing $30,000 worth of this particular perpetual swap would have to pay a fee of $3 – derived from multiplying $30,000 by 0.010%.
Note that funding fees are paid at fixed intervals. For example, on some exchanges, the funding period is set for every eight hours.
