I am trying to figure out the structure of perpetual futures using the example of the BTC USDT pair. I think I understand how this tool theoretically works. However, in practice, there were nuances that I hadn’t even thought about. And they confuse me.
To figure it out, I set up an account for mock trading on Binance. I longed 0.01 BTC/USDT perpetual futures with x1 leverage (On Binance this means no leverage).
Based on the theory, funding fees should be paid three times a day (00:00, 08:00 and 16:00 UTC): if the funding rate is positive, then longs pay shorts and vice versa.
However, in this demo mode, I also got an inscription in the lower right corner with fields “Margin ratio”, “Maintence Margin” and “Margin Balance” (although I do not take leverage in this position, and I do not have other positions). And these numbers change a little bit (less than 100$) all the time.
In addition, in this mock trading regime, I have an amount left after buying futures – and this amount also changes slightly every few seconds (although funding is paid only once every 8 hours).
In this regard, I have a question about the arrangement of perpetual futures (without leverage!). Can changes in the balance of the amounts on my demo account be related to the revaluation of the contract (analogous to mark-to-market)? Or, for example, in perpetual futures, in addition to funding fees, a variation margin is also used?
Please help me figure these practice things out.
