US Crypto Perpetual Futures Are Finally Here — But Most Traders Can Only Touch Bitcoin. Here's Why

WHY IT MATTERS

Think of perpetual futures like a bet on the price of something — say Bitcoin — that never expires. Unlike a regular futures contract that has a set end date, a 'perp' lets you hold your position as long as you want. They're hugely popular globally because they let traders use leverage (borrowing to amplify gains or losses) and profit whether prices go up or down. US traders have been mostly locked out of this market for years because regulators hadn't approved it. Now that perps are launching in the US, it's a big deal — but the catch is that only Bitcoin has enough trading activity to make these contracts work smoothly. For smaller coins, there just aren't enough buyers and sellers yet, which means you could lose money just from the cost of getting in and out of a trade. It's like opening a new stock exchange where only Apple shares have enough volume to trade efficiently.