The Difference Between Mark Price and Last Price on Pluang Futures

On Pluang's Crypto Futures platform, last price is the price of the most recently executed trade on the order book, while mark price is a weighted average price calculated across major global crypto exchanges rather than from Pluang's order book alone. Pluang uses mark price — not last price — for unrealised PnL calculations and liquidation triggers, specifically to protect traders from a single thin or manipulated trade artificially forcing a liquidation. The one exception worth knowing: when you actually close a position with a market order, the fill you receive is executed at the best available price in the order book, which can differ from both the mark price and the last price, though these prices usually stay close together in normal conditions and only widen apart briefly during unusually high volatility or thin liquidity on a specific contract.

• Last price is simply the price at which the most recent futures trade executed on Pluang's own order book. It can move sharply during low-liquidity periods and is more exposed to short-term manipulation from a single large order. It is also the price the Crypto Futures chart shows.
• Mark price is a weighted average price calculated across major global crypto exchanges, not derived from any single order book. Because it reflects broader market consensus rather than one venue's most recent trade, it resists short-term manipulation far better than last price alone.
• Why liquidation uses mark price: if liquidation were triggered by last price, a brief anomaly or a single large order could push the price just far enough to force a liquidation that would not otherwise be warranted — a practice sometimes called wick-hunting. Mark price closes that loophole.
• PnL is displayed using mark price: the unrealised PnL figure you see in the Pluang app reflects mark price, giving you a fair estimate of your position's value rather than one distorted by a momentary order book spike.
• Order fills use the best available price: when you place a market order to close a position, the actual execution price is the best available price in the order book, not the mark price, and it can also differ from the last price shown on the chart. The gap between these prices stays narrow in liquid conditions and only widens during periods of genuinely low liquidity or extreme volatility.

Related questions:

Q: Can the last price and mark price be very different on Pluang?
In liquid market conditions the two stay closely aligned. During periods of high volatility or thin liquidity, however, the gap — sometimes called the basis — can widen temporarily before narrowing again as trading activity normalises across venues, so take extra care with large orders during fast-moving markets.

Q: Why was my position liquidated when the chart never reached my liquidation price?
Because the Crypto Futures chart shows the last price, while liquidation is triggered by the mark price. When the two briefly drift apart, the mark price can reach your liquidation price before the chart does. Your Stop Loss follows the mark price too, so it can also trigger before the chart reaches it. See CFT-TXN-TS-003.

Q: Does Pluang's use of mark price mean I can never be liquidated unfairly?
Using mark price significantly reduces the risk of liquidation triggered by a single manipulated trade, but it does not eliminate liquidation risk itself. Your position can still be liquidated if the genuine, broad-market price moves against you enough to breach your maintenance margin requirement, regardless of how fair the reference price is or how carefully it is calculated across exchanges.