When you invest in the stock market, you can bet on a company’s stock price using options or futures contracts. These instruments allow investors to bet on whether an asset’s price rises or falls. But what if you want to make a bet on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin? That’s where crypto derivatives come in.
What Are Crypto Derivatives?
Cryptocurrencies are a new asset class with a variety of use cases. As such, they’re also susceptible to mispricing and lack of liquidity. Crypto derivatives can help solve this problem by providing an easy way for investors to access cryptocurrency markets.
In basic terms, crypto derivatives are financial instruments that derive their value from an underlying asset or group of assets (also known as the underlying). This underlying asset can be anything from cryptocurrencies to bonds or commodities with an agreed-upon price. The value of these derivatives relies on how well-correlated it is with the price movement of its underlying asset(s). For example: if you hold a contract that pays out based on whether Bitcoin goes up or down in value (like most crypto options), then your payout will depend on whether Bitcoin moves up or down relative to where it started when you bought your contract. If you bet correctly, you will receive the difference in value at the time the contract ends; if you were incorrect, you would have to pay the other trader the difference. This allows traders to earn money on the crypto market without owning cryptocurrency.
Crypto Futures
A future is a type of derivatives contract that allows parties to exchange goods or services at a predetermined price at a specified time. Futures contracts are binding agreements between two parties involving an obligation to buy or sell an asset on either side, with the price determined today (and therefore not based on actual market conditions).
Futures contracts are commonly used as hedging tools by companies whose business is affected by changes in the value of assets such as commodities, equities, and currencies over time. The most common futures contract types include stock indexes (like Bitcoin), interest rates (such as LIBOR), bonds/loans, foreign currencies, agricultural products like wheat & corn, and metals like gold & silver.
Crypto derivative trading platforms allow you to use your capital to speculate on the price movements of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies without actually owning them outright. This can be advantageous if you want exposure without having to deal with any of the associated risks or headaches involved in buying physical coins directly from exchanges like Coinbase or Kraken – though there are some risks associated with using these trading options too! If you bet the price will go down but goes up when the contract is resolved, you will have to pay the other trader the difference.
Crypto Options
Options are a type of derivative. Options offer two main types of bets: calls, which give you the right to buy something at a fixed price, and puts, which give you the right to sell something at a fixed price.
When trading options, you can choose whether or not to exercise your option once it expires (though most people usually do). If you decide not to exercise your choice before it expires, it becomes worthless and is considered “expired.” Allowing contracts to expire is not a good way to save money if your bet goes poorly. Even if you let the contract expire, you will still pay the fees for entering the bet initially.
Perpetual Contracts
Perpetual contracts are similar to futures contracts. The main difference is that they do not have an expiration date. They are more complex than futures contracts and are more difficult to trade. Perpetuals are used to hedge against price fluctuations in the underlying assets, which can be cryptocurrencies or other assets such as commodities like gold or silver, stocks and indexes such as NASDAQ 100 or S&P 500, and even currencies like USD/EURO. You can start trading BTC PERP, Bitcoin perpetual contracts, through a crypto derivatives exchange such as FTX.
How to Trade Crypto Derivatives
The first step to trading crypto derivatives is to choose the best exchange. An excellent place to start is with one of the top exchanges, such as FTX, which makes it easy for new traders to access the market and learn more about advanced trading and spot market trading. While there are many types of crypto derivative exchanges, we will focus on two major categories: peer-to-peer and centralized.
Peer-to-peer or decentralized exchanges allow you to buy and sell contracts without having your money held by anyone else; however, these platforms have high transaction costs compared with centralized exchanges like FTX (where you can trade on margin). Centralized platforms reduce this cost but carry greater counterparty risk than peer-to-peer networks. The decision about which platform best suits your needs depends on factors such as liquidity availability, price volatility levels, and market depth (the number of orders available at different prices).
The future of crypto derivatives trading looks bright, but it’s important to remember that you don’t have to trade derivatives if you don’t want to. You can always stick with spot trading or even hold your assets for the long term. The critical thing is that the crypto world has options for everyone! You can learn more about trading crypto derivatives by joining an online crypto community like FTX.