How Do Crypto Futures Work on Pluang?
Crypto Futures on Pluang let you open a long position when you expect an asset's price to rise, or a short position when you expect it to fall, using leverage so your position size can exceed the capital you actually deposit. Every contract is quoted and settled in USDT only — never IDR — which is what separates Crypto Futures from Crypto Assets (spot), where trading happens exclusively in IDR. Because Pluang offers perpetual contracts with no expiry date, a funding rate is exchanged between long and short position holders every 8 hours instead of the contract settling on a fixed date, and this funding rate keeps the futures price anchored close to the underlying spot price rather than letting the two drift apart. Leverage magnifies both potential profit and potential loss in equal measure, so position sizing should always match what you can afford to lose rather than simply the maximum a contract allows.
The four building blocks of a Crypto Futures trade:
- Direction — long or short — open long if you expect the price to rise, short if you expect it to fall. Both directions can generate profit, unlike spot trading.
- Leverage — control a position larger than your capital. Magnifies both potential profit and potential loss at the same rate.
- Funding rate every 8 hours — exchanged between long and short holders to align the contract price with the spot price, since Crypto Futures contracts have no expiration date.
- USDT-only settlement — every contract is quoted and settled in USDT, never IDR, unlike Crypto Assets (spot) which trades in IDR only.
Related questions:
Q: What position do I open if I expect the price to rise?
Open a long position. You profit if the price increases before you close it, and the size of your gain scales with how far the price moves in your favor relative to your entry point, before fees and funding rate are subtracted from the result. If the price instead falls after you open a long, the position moves into a loss, so it still needs an exit plan and a margin buffer like any leveraged trade.
Q: What position do I open if I expect the price to fall?
Open a short position. You profit if the price decreases before you close it — the mechanism works in reverse of a long position, letting you benefit from a declining market instead of needing prices to rise first. A short is not simply the reverse label of a long — you're relying on downward price movement instead of upward movement, so the same leverage and liquidation risk still apply to the position.
Q: What currency are Crypto Futures contracts on Pluang quoted in?
Always USDT. Crypto Futures contracts are USDT-pair only and are never quoted or settled in IDR, unlike Crypto Assets (spot) on Pluang, which trades exclusively in IDR and is a separate product entirely. This means your Futures wallet balance, margin, and realized profit are all tracked in USDT, so you'll need to convert or transfer funds if you also hold a Crypto Assets (spot) position in IDR.
Q: Why does a futures contract's price stay close to the spot price?
A funding rate mechanism, exchanged every 8 hours, transfers payments between long and short position holders based on the gap between the futures price and the spot price, discouraging the contract from drifting too far from the underlying asset. When the futures price trades above spot, long position holders pay the funding rate to short holders, and the payment flips direction when the futures price trades below spot.
Q: Does leverage increase both potential profit and potential loss?
Yes. Leverage magnifies the outcome in both directions by the same factor, so a position sized too aggressively for your risk tolerance can lose capital just as fast as it can gain it. A 10x leveraged position, for example, moves roughly ten times faster in both directions than the same trade without leverage, which is why sizing and a clear exit plan matter more as leverage increases.