What are perpetual futures (perps)?

A futures contract with no expiry date: you trade the price of a coin with leverage, and a funding rate keeps it close to the spot price.

A perpetual future, or perp, is a derivative that tracks the price of an asset but never expires. You can open a long or a short, hold it as long as you like and close it at any time, usually with leverage.

Because there is no expiry that pulls the contract price to the spot price, perps use the funding rate: when the contract trades above spot, longs pay shorts, and when it trades below, shorts pay longs.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange built around perpetual futures: every order, position and liquidation happens on its own blockchain, HyperCore, which is why anyone can see the positions of every trader.

On HyperScan

HyperScan reads these public positions and shows what the largest traders hold in each Hyperliquid perp right now.