The perpetual contract community has been causing a stir these days: a seasoned trader who went long posted their liquidation slip. The direction was spot on, but due to funding rate fluctuations, they held onto the position for four days only to be wiped out, losing 800U. In the end, they got liquidated, and the next day, the market reversed and shot up 300 points.

This is a vivid example of "predicting the market correctly but dying due to trading rules."

① Funding Rate — The Invisible Vampire of Perpetual Contracts

The holding cost for both longs and shorts is settled every eight hours.

If the rate is positive, longs pay shorts; if negative, the opposite. It sounds simple, but in reality, this can silently erode your principal.

On December 10th at 4 a.m., the #加密生态动态追踪 funding rate surged to 0.18%. Holding a full long position for two days, your account was directly deducted by 3.6%. The market remained flat, and you had already lost.

Solution: If the rate exceeds 0.1% for two consecutive rounds, switch to a different contract without hesitation; for short-term trades within 8 hours, either close or switch to the side receiving funding, effectively earning "holding benefits" for free.

② Liquidation Line — Much Closer Than You Think

Don’t expect a 10% drop to trigger liquidation with 10x leverage. The platform also bears costs for maintenance margin and slippage. In reality, a 5%-7% decline can wipe you out instantly.

Recently, a newbie used full margin with 10x leverage on $BTC, and a 6% drop caused immediate liquidation, vaporizing their principal.

Solution: Use isolated margin mode, reduce leverage to 3-5x, keep more than 20% margin buffer, and set the liquidation line safely away from the trigger zone.

③ 100x Leverage — The True Harvest Tool

It looks exciting, but fees and funding rates are calculated based on "notional principal."

If you open a 1000U position with 100x leverage, the system charges based on 100,000U. When you make 200U profit, the settlement might show a loss instead, making losses no longer surprising.

Remember this: high leverage trades should be quick, closing within 1 hour; lower leverage can be held longer on daily charts. The higher the leverage, the exponentially greater the risk of liquidation.

Exchanges fear most when you bet correctly; they fear even more when you master their rules.

Learn to avoid traps first, then think about making gains — staying alive is the first lesson in the crypto world.