Honest Futures Guide
Choose an exchangeExchanges
Crypto futures, explained

How do people make money with crypto futures?

When prices go up and when they go down — by hand or with bots. Let's walk through one trade: where the profit comes from, how much you can lose and how to try it yourself.

See an example trade

From your first Bitcoin trade to strategies on stocks and indices.

I'm just startingI want to choose an exchange
Example trade. No fees or funding.
Where the profit comes from

Price goes up — a long wins. Price goes down — a short wins.

A futures contract is a contract on an asset's price. You don't need to buy the Bitcoin itself: you pick a direction and open a position. If the price moves your way, you make a profit. If it moves the other way, you take a loss.

↗ Long · you expect a rise

Buy lower, close higher.

You open a 500 USDT position. Bitcoin rises 2% — the move earns you 10 USDT.

Price rose 2%+10 USDT
Price fell 2%−10 USDT
↘ Short · you expect a fall

Open higher, close lower.

The same 500 USDT position, but the other way. Bitcoin drops 2% — the result is also +10 USDT.

Price fell 2%+10 USDT
Price rose 2%−10 USDT

Here and below we use an example linear contract settled in USDT. Fees and funding aren't included yet — we'll get to them further down.

More about longs and shorts
Margin and leverage

A 500 USDT trade doesn't need all 500 from you.

Leverage lets you open a position bigger than the money you set aside as collateral. With 5× leverage, a 500 USDT position needs about 100 USDT of initial margin in a simplified calculation.

Profit and loss are counted on the whole position. That's why the same 2% move gives a 10 USDT result, not 2 USDT.

How leverage, margin and risk fit together
Pick the leverage for this example
Initial margin
100 USDT
×5
Position size
500 USDT

The position stays at 500 USDT. 5× leverage changes how much collateral you lock, not the money result of this position.

Before you open a trade

First decide how much you're willing to lose.

In our trade, a 2% move against you means a 10 USDT loss before costs. If that feels like too much, make the position smaller.

A good plan starts with the size of a possible loss and a rule for getting out. Only then do you pick the leverage.

Work out your position size

  1. Choose the position size.

    Your result depends on the size of the trade. With the same 2% move, a 250 USDT position earns or loses half as much as a 500 USDT one.

  2. Set your exit in advance.

    A stop-loss sends an order when your chosen condition is met. In a sharp move, the actual fill price can differ from the one you expected.

  3. Check the margin rules.

    If your collateral runs short, the position can be closed by force. That's liquidation. The rules depend on the contract and your account mode.

What's left in your account

Count your profit after costs.

The exchange charges a fee when you open and when you close a position. Perpetual futures also have funding — a regular payment you either pay or receive.

Back to our 500 USDT long. If the price rises 2%, the move earns 10 USDT. With an example fee of 0.05% on each side, about 9.50 USDT is left after trading fees.

Calculate your own trade

The same trade — with fees.

Price up 2%

10 − 0.25 − 0.255
= 9.495 USDT

10 USDT from the price move, 0.25 USDT to enter and 0.255 USDT to exit. The exit fee is charged on 510 USDT.

If the price falls 2%, the result with the same fees is −10.495 USDT. Funding is zero here. The fee rate is an example — check your exchange's terms separately.

Now you can try it

Your first trade can use virtual money.

A demo mode helps you learn the app: open a position, set a stop, close the trade and find the result in your history. Start with one simple trade — one you already know how to calculate.

Open a position.

Choose a contract and a side. Check the position size, leverage and margin mode before you confirm.

Set your exit.

Add a stop-loss and, if your plan needs one, a take-profit. Check which position they belong to.

Close and check.

Find the entry and exit prices, trading fees and the result. Compare the amount with your own calculation.

How to place a practice trade Choose an exchange to practise on

Whether a demo is available depends on the exchange and your account. Fills in demo and in real trading can differ.

Where to trade futures

Choose an exchange where every step makes sense to you.

Start by checking that futures are available for your country and account. Then look at how to open and close a position, what a trade costs and how deposits and withdrawals work.

Binance

Learn how futures trading works there, the margin modes and the terms of the contract you want. Then move on to signing up.

What to look at on Binance

Bybit

Get to know the trading account and how results are shown. For your first practice, check the demo terms.

How to start on Bybit

OKX

Compare the dated and perpetual contracts on offer. For stocks and indices, check the underlying asset and the trading hours.

Which terms to check
See futures exchanges Open Binance Futures

The Binance link contains an affiliate ID: we may earn a commission from the exchange.

After your first practice

How do you choose when to enter?

Knowing the buttons is step one. Next you need an idea: why you expect the price to move, and at what point you'll admit you were wrong.

Trend traders look for a chance to join a move. Range traders work the swings between two levels. Breakout traders wait for the price to leave its usual boundary.

We walk through each approach on a trade: where the entry appears, how to size the position and what to do if the idea doesn't work.

Get to grips with strategies

One strategy — four decisions.

  1. Why enter?

    Which move you expect and what the idea is based on.

  2. When to exit?

    Where you take the result and where the idea stops working.

  3. How much?

    How the position size ties to the loss you can accept.

  4. How did it go?

    What to write down after the trade, including costs and mistakes.

If you'd like to automate

A bot can do part of the work.

A grid bot, for example, places orders at several price levels. While the price swings inside the range, individual cycles can close in profit.

You set the range, the amount and the stop condition. If the price leaves the range, the loss on the open position can be bigger than the profit from finished cycles.

See how a bot works

Profitable cycles aren't the bot's final result.

Closed cycles+12 USDT
Open position−20 USDT
Total, before other costs−8 USDT

An example to show the overall result.

Not just Bitcoin

Crypto, stocks, indices and gold.

Crypto exchanges list contracts on the prices of many different assets. The direction logic is the same: long if you expect a rise, short if you expect a fall.

But each market has its quirks. A stock has company events, an index has its make-up and calculation method, and commodities have their own reference price. The contract's trading hours can also differ from the main market's.

We explain which price an instrument follows, what happens at weekends and how a futures contract differs from a stock token.

Which assets you can trade
BTC · ETHCrypto
StocksSingle companies
IndicesBaskets of companies
GoldCommodities
Still have questions?

The things beginners most often find confusing.

Come back to these answers whenever you need them while trading.

How much money do I need to start?

The minimum order size and margin requirements depend on the contract. Your account balance, your margin and your position size are three different numbers. First choose the loss you can accept and work out the position, then check the exchange's minimum order size.

Size a position by the loss you accept →

Why is the profit on my position different from my balance?

An open position shows the current estimate of your result. Once you close it, the final number includes the actual fill price, trading fees and any funding payments. The exchange may also show the percentage of your margin rather than of your whole balance.

How to check a trade's result →

Does a stop-loss guarantee an exact loss?

A stop sets the condition for sending an order. The fill depends on the order type, liquidity and how the market moves. That's why it helps to estimate your expected exit price separately from the trigger price.

Can I make money with a bot without experience?

A bot automates actions, but a person still picks the range, the capital and the stop condition. Before you start one, you need to understand how it opens positions and what happens to the overall result if the market moves against it.

Walk through a grid bot example →

Go through your first trade from start to finish.

Now you know where the result comes from. Open the step-by-step guide or choose an exchange to practise on.

Start with chapter one Choose an exchange →
What futures are →Calculate profit and loss →How to choose trades →How trading bots work →

Find an answer to your question