Helix is a premier decentralized crypto exchange that supports both spot and perpetual futures markets. In spot markets, traders can only profit when the value of an asset increase. However, through futures contracts, you can profit in both ways as the value of an asset rises or falls.
A perpetual market is a type of futures contract that allows you to buy or sell an underlying asset without an expiry date. You can trade perpetual markets on Helix through the trading page interface.
Let's assume you have some USDT in your Trading Account, and you believe that BTC price in USDT will rise.
Step 1: Select a perpetual futures market to trade
On Helix, click Trade > Perpetual from the main navigation bar.
Choose the perpetual futures market you want to trade on which is BTC/USDT PERP in this example.
Step 2: Make a trade on Helix's perpetual futures market
Choose the side you want to trade on. In this case, it will be Buy (Long) since you believe that BTC price will rise. Otherwise, it shall be Sell (Short) if you think the price will go down instead.
Then choose the type of order you want to trade, from Market, Limit, or more advanced types like Stop-Market and Stop-Limit.
- Market orders are executed at the current market price.
- Limit orders allow you to place an order at an expected price.
- Stop-Limit orders are conditional orders that will automatically place a limit or market order when the mark price hits the trigger price specified by the user.
💡 More advanced order types like stop-market and stop-limit are also available in perpetual futures markets. Refer here if you would like to learn more about how conditional orders work.
Next, enter the amount you wish to trade.
- There're four percentage numbers (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) shown next to the Amount field, which indicate that it will allocate the selected percentage of your funds for the order.
- You can either choose a percentage or just simply input a desired number as the amount to trade.
You can also use the leverage slider to select your desired leverage.
Submit the order and approve it with your connected wallet. Once the order is submitted and approved successfully, you will see a notification "Your order has been placed".
Step 3: Check your trade activity
You can always check your trade activity on Helix at the bottom of the trading page or on the Activity > Derivatives Orders page, including open orders, triggers, order history and trade history.
- The "Open Orders" section shows the orders that have not been executed completely yet. You can click the cancel button if you need to cancel your order.
- The "Triggers" section shows all your conditional orders that are still active.
- The "Order History" section displays a record of your filled and canceled orders.
- The "Trade History" section only shows orders that have been filled.