I recently read about perps. Here's what claude had to say about them:

What — A perpetual futures contract ("perp") is a derivative that tracks the price of an underlying crypto asset (BTC, ETH, etc.) without ever expiring. Unlike a traditional futures contract, there's no settlement date and no rollover. To keep the contract price tethered to the actual spot price, exchanges use a funding rate — a periodic payment (usually every 1-8 hours) exchanged between long and short position holders. If perp price > spot price, longs pay shorts (cooling demand for longs); if perp price < spot price, shorts pay longs. This funding mechanism is the core thing that makes perps different from your micro futures contracts, which converge to spot naturally as expiration approaches.

Who — Created by BitMEX in 2016 (credited to founder Arthur Hayes), now offered by nearly every crypto exchange: Binance, Bybit, OKX, and on-chain platforms like dYdX, Hyperliquid, and GMX. Traders using them range from retail speculators to market makers and hedge funds running basis trades (arbitraging spot vs. perp price).

When — They trade 24/7/365, no market hours, no holidays. Funding settlement happens on a fixed schedule (commonly every 8 hours) regardless of when you're actively trading.

Where — Centralized exchanges (Binance, Bybit, OKX, Coinbase International) or decentralized/on-chain venues (dYdX, Hyperliquid, GMX) where the funding mechanism and liquidation engine run via smart contracts instead of a centralized order book.

Why — They exist to give traders continuous, leveraged exposure to crypto price movement without the hassle of contract expiry and rollover, while keeping the derivative price closely pegged to spot. High leverage (often 10x-125x depending on exchange and asset) is the main draw — and the main risk. Liquidation engines are aggressive; a small adverse move against a highly leveraged position can wipe it out fast, which is a meaningfully different risk profile than your options wheel strategy or covered calls.

Funding rates can eat into or add to returns depending on which side you're on and how skewed positioning is — worth factoring into any strategy the same way you'd factor in theta decay on options.