Perpetual vs quarterly futures: what is the difference
The key difference is one: a quarterly future has an expiry date on which it settles at the spot price, and a perpetual has none. Everything else follows from that — how the contract price stays near spot, what it costs to hold a position and what to do when the term runs out.
Side-by-side comparison
| Perpetual | Quarterly (dated) | |
|---|---|---|
| Term | none, hold as long as you like | until expiry (usually the last Friday of the quarter) |
| How price stays near spot | funding — a regular payment between longs and shorts | convergence to spot by expiry |
| Deviation from spot | small, “evened out” by funding | the basis — can be noticeable, especially far from expiry |
| Cost of holding | the sum of funding payments, unknown in advance | the basis, known at entry |
| At the end | nothing, the position stays open until you close it | settlement at the spot price, the position closes itself |
| Keeping the position | no action needed | close and reopen in the next quarter (rollover) |
| Liquidity | most of the crypto derivatives volume | much lower, mostly BTC and ETH |
| Typical use | active trading, funding arbitrage | a hedge at a known price, basis trading |
How each stays near the spot price
A quarterly future settles on expiry day at the spot index (usually the average of the index over the last minutes before expiry). So any premium to spot must disappear by that day. The difference between the futures price and spot is the basis: when the future is above spot it is contango, below spot — backwardation.
A perpetual future never settles, so nothing pulls it to spot by itself. Funding plays that role: if the perp trades above the index, longs pay shorts; if below, shorts pay longs. The larger the deviation, the larger the rate, so the perp price does not drift far.
What it costs to hold a position: an example
Illustrative numbers: BTC spot is 100,000 USDT, the quarterly future expiring in 90 days is 101,500 USDT.
- Long the quarterly. You “overpay” a 1.5% basis upfront (≈ 6.1% per year). This cost is known at entry and will not change.
- Long the perp. There is almost no basis, but every 8 hours you pay funding. At 0.01% per 8h that is 0.03% a day and ≈ 2.7% over 90 days — cheaper than the quarterly. At 0.03% per 8h it is already ≈ 8.1%, more expensive.
The takeaway: the quarterly gives a known holding cost, the perp a changing one. When the market is overheated and funding stays high, a long is cheaper to hold in the quarterly contract; in a calm market — in the perp. For a short it is the other way round: the seller of the quarterly earns the basis, the seller of the perp earns funding.
Expiry and rollover
On expiry the quarterly contract closes automatically at the settlement price. To keep the position, you close it in the current contract and open it in the next one — a rollover. It costs fees for two trades and the spread between the contracts, and the next quarter’s basis may be different. A perp has no such procedure: the position stays open until you close it or the exchange liquidates it.
What they have in common
- both are contracts on the price, not the asset itself: you do not receive coins (crypto exchanges almost always settle in cash);
- both are traded with leverage and margin and are liquidated by the mark price;
- on both it is equally easy to go short.
Which one arbitrage uses
- Basis trading (cash-and-carry) — classically on quarterlies: buying spot and shorting the future locks in the basis to expiry, the result is known in advance.
- Funding arbitrage and the cross-exchange spread — on perps: one coin has perps on dozens of exchanges, and their prices and rates diverge all the time (see funding arbitrage and the cross-exchange spread).
How SpreadScope shows it
The scanner works with perpetual contracts: it collects perps from centralized exchanges and perp DEXs, calculates the entry and exit spread from the order book and the funding spread taking each exchange’s payment interval into account. Quarterly contracts are not in the scanner — most coins simply do not have them, and arbitrage across dozens of venues happens on perps.
FAQ
What is the difference between perpetual and quarterly futures?
A quarterly future has an expiry date on which it settles at the spot price; a perpetual has none. So a quarterly stays near spot by converging to its settlement date, and a perpetual through regular funding payments.
Which is cheaper to hold: a perp or a quarterly future?
It depends on funding. For a quarterly the holding cost is the basis, known at entry; for a perp it is the sum of future funding payments. With high positive funding a long is usually cheaper to hold in the quarterly contract, with low funding — in the perp.
What happens to a quarterly future on expiry day?
The position is closed automatically at the settlement price — usually the average of the index over the last minutes before expiry. To stay in the position, traders roll it into the next quarter’s contract in advance.
Do quarterly futures have funding?
No. Funding is a mechanism of perpetual contracts only; for quarterlies its role is played by the basis, which converges to zero by expiry.
Why are there more perps than quarterly contracts?
They need no rollover, they have one liquid order book per coin instead of several by date, and they are easier to launch for new coins. That is why most crypto derivatives volume is in perps, while quarterly contracts exist mostly for large coins.