OKX Expiry Futures Guide

Published on 20 June 2022Updated on 15 Nov 20246 min read

Crypto-margined Expiry Futures

OKX crypto-margined futures contracts are a derivative product settled in cryptocurrencies such as BTC, LTC, and ETH. Some contracts have weekly, monthly, and quarterly futures, but others only have weekly and quarterly futures. Traders can take a long or short position on cryptocurrencies to make a profit when the price goes up or down.

Example 1: BTCUSD expiry futures contract specifications

Symbol

BTCUSD

Underlying index

BTC/USD

Settlement currency

BTC

Face value

100 USD

Price

USD price of 1 BTC

Tick size

0.01

Leverage

0.01-100x

Trading hours

24/7

Contract type

Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly, Bi-monthly, Quarterly, Bi-quarterly

Settlement time

8:00 am UTC, Friday of the week of delivery

Example 2: LTCUSD expiry futures contract specifications

Symbol

LTCUSD

Underlying index

LTC/USD

Settlement currency

LTC

Face value

10 USD

Price

USD price of 1 LTC

Tick size

0.01

Leverage

0.01-50x

Trading hours

24/7

Contract type

Weekly, Bi-weekly, Quarterly, Bi-quarterly

Settlement time

8:00 am (UTC), Friday of the week of delivery

Learn more about expiry contract details at /trade-market/info/futures

USDT-margined Expiry Futures

OKX USDT-margined expiry futures contracts are a derivative product settled in USDT. Some contracts have weekly, monthly, and quarterly futures, but others only have weekly and quarterly futures. Traders can take a long or short position on cryptocurrencies to make a profit when the price goes up or down.

Example 1: BTCUSDT expiry Futures specifications

Symbol

BTCUSDT

Underlying index

BTC/USDT

Settlement currency

USDT

Face value

0.01 BTC

Price

USDT price of 1 BTC

Tick size

0.01 BTC

Leverage

0.01-100x

Trading hours

24/7

Contract type

Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly, Bi-monthly, Quarterly, Bi-quarterly

Settlement time

8:00 am (UTC), Friday of the week of delivery

Example 2: LTCUSDT expiry futures contract specifications

Symbol

LTCUSDT

Underlying index

LTC/USDT

Settlement currency

USDT

Face value

1 LTC

Price

USDT price of 1 LTC

Tick size

0.01 LTC

Leverage

0.01-50x

Trading hours

24/7

Contract type

Weekly, Bi-weekly, Quarterly, Bi-quarterly

Settlement time

8:00 am (UTC), Friday of the week of delivery

Learn more about expiry contract details at /trade-market/info/futures

Expiry Futures contract generation rules

Expiry futures contract types

BTCUSDT, BTCUSD, ETHUSD

Others

Available expiry contract durations

6 durations:
Weekly/Bi-weekly
Monthly/Bi-monthly
Quarterly/Bi-quarterly (March, June, September, and December)

4 durations:
Weekly/Bi-weekly
Quarterly/Bi-quarterly (March, June, September, and December)

Expiration date and time

Weekly: Friday at 8:00 am (UTC)
Monthly: the last Friday of month at 8:00 am (UTC)
Quarterly: the last Friday of calendar quarter at 8:00 am (UTC)

Weekly: Friday at 8:00 am (UTC)
Quarterly: the last Friday of calendar quarter at 8:00 am (UTC)

Listing time

New futures contracts will be listed at 8:00 am (UTC).
Bi-weekly, bi-monthly, and bi-quarterly contracts will be listed.

If the expiration dates for new and existing contracts do not coincide:
- Bi-weekly: every Friday
- Bi-monthly: every third-to-last Friday of the month
- Bi-quarterly: every third-to-last Friday of the expiration month (January, April, July, and October)

If the expiration dates for new and existing contracts coincide:
- New futures contracts won't be listed if their projected expiration dates coincide with those of existing contracts. For example, if there are already monthly contracts expiring on a specific date, a new bi-weekly contract set to expire on the same day won't be listed.

New futures contracts will be listed at 8:00 am (UTC).
Bi-weekly and bi-quarterly contracts will be listed.

If the expiration dates for new and existing contracts do not coincide:
- Bi-weekly: every Friday
- Bi-quarterly: every third-to-last Friday of the expiration month (March, June, September, and December)

If the expiration dates for new and existing contracts coincide:
- New futures contracts won't be listed if their expiration dates overlap with existing ones. For example, if there are already quarterly contracts expiring on a specific date, a new bi-weekly contract set to expire on the same day won't be listed.

Key features

Settled in crypto or USDT
OKX crypto-margined expiry contracts are settled in cryptocurrencies and enable hedging and risk management by providing exposure to various crypto assets.
OKX USDT-margined expiry contracts are settled in USDT, allowing users to trade without having to hold the underlying asset.

Expiration date
All expiry futures contracts have a delivery date. The settlement price is determined by averaging the price index at each second over the final hour before delivery.

Index price
USDT-margined expiry contracts use the underlying USDT index, and crypto-margined expiry contracts use the underlying USD index. In order to keep index prices in line with the spot market, we use prices from at least three mainstream exchanges, and adopt a special mechanism to ensure that the index price fluctuation is within the normal range when the price on a single exchange deviates significantly.

Price range
OKX adjusts the price range for each order based on the spot price and futures price of the last minute, in an effort to prevent unscrupulous traders from maliciously disrupting the market.

Mark price
In the event of extreme price fluctuations, OKX uses the mark price as a reference to prevent liquidation due to a single abnormal transaction.

Tiered maintenance margin level
The maintenance margin level is the minimum margin level to maintain a position. When the equity is lower than the maintenance margin + trading fee, positions will be reduced or closed. OKX adopts a tiered maintenance margin level mechanism, i.e., for users with larger positions, the maintenance margin level will be higher and the maximum leverage will be lower.

One-way and hedge mode
In One-way mode, users can only hold positions in one direction under the same margin mode and instrument. For example, if a user holds a long position of 10 contracts in BTCUSDT-31MAY24 and places an order to sell 5 contracts, the position shall become 5 contracts after the order has been filled.

In Hedge mode, users can hold both long and short positions under the same margin mode and instrument at the same time. For example, if a user holds a long position of 10 contracts in BTCUSDT-31MAY24 and places an order to sell 5 contracts, the user will have a long position of 10 contracts and a short position of 5 contracts after the order has been filled.