Crypto futures are contracts that let you trade on prices, rather than owning the coin. Unlike regular spot crypto trading, you're betting on whether prices will go up or down, without necessarily ever holding the asset.
While still gaining traction in Australia, futures trading is available if you sign up to the right exchange. So in this guide we'll show you which exchanges offer futures, how it works and how to get started.
Before you start, know that futures trading is high-risk and using leverage can amplify losses, potentially wiping out your entire collateral. For this reason, trading crypto futures is only suitable for experienced investors.
There aren’t many platforms in Australia offering crypto futures just yet, but we'll be sure to update this table as more arrive. You can see which platforms currently offer futures in the table below.
We currently don't have that product, but here are others to consider:
How we picked theseWhile you may be able to access crypto futures products on other platforms, you should be aware that there are additional risks associated with using a service that is not overseen by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Before you start you should have a clear understanding of how futures trading works and the risks involved. Once you’re ready, you can follow these simple steps:
Look for an exchange that is licensed to operate in Australia and holds an AFSL license. The best crypto futures exchanges have low fees, a long list of trading pairs and high liquidity.
You can check out Australian licensed crypto futures exchanges in the comparison table above and more info on how to choose the best exchange below.
Once you’ve signed up to a crypto exchange, you’ll typically need to take extra steps to open a futures account.
At the time of writing, you need to be a wholesale client to trade futures on a licensed exchange in Australia, which means you’ll need to provide additional information as proof of this.
Because futures trading is for experienced investors, you may also need to pass a quiz to demonstrate your knowledge.
You’ll need to fund your futures account by either transferring your currency of choice from your wallet or purchasing new cryptocurrency via the exchange. Once you have your currency deposited on your main account, you’ll usually need to transfer this over to your futures wallet.
Depending on the platform you use, you may only have a limited number of crypto or fiat currencies that are accepted into your futures wallet.
This part will vary between different exchanges. You’ll typically see a long collection of contracts to choose from or you’ll be able to look up your chosen contract in a search bar.
You’ll have the option to trade either perpetual contracts (perps) or regular (dated) contracts, along with a list of different currency pairs.
To distinguish between the two types of contracts, perpetual contracts will usually be labelled PERP or perpetual, while regular futures contracts will display the expiration date in the contract name, e.g. BTCUSD PERP vs BTCUSD0628 (expiring June 28).
Perpetual contracts (perps) are futures contracts that have no expiration date, so you can hold them indefinitely. Perps also come with funding fees, which is paid to you or deducted every 8 hours, depending on the exchange.
Regular dated futures contracts on the other hand come with an expiration date. Once the date hits, the contract automatically settles and you can roll into a new one if you want to continue trading. Dated futures have no funding fees.
Once you’ve selected your contract, you’ll need to fill in an order form to submit the trade. This will look different between exchanges.
Below is the order screen you’ll get if you use Kraken to trade futures.
You’ll typically get the option here to select an order type, adjust your margin, isolate your position and buy (go long) or sell (go short).
At a minimum, you’ll normally get to choose between a ‘Limit’ order or a ‘Market’ order, the same that you’ll see in spot trading.
In this case, the limit order price is what executes your order to open your contract. If you select a market order, your contract opens immediately.
Example
Say Bitcoin is trading for US$103,500 and you want to open a long position using a perp contract. You think its price could dip before continuing up, so you decide to set a limit order of US$103,000.
If BTC falls to US$103,000, then your order fills and you’re long BTC. Then if BTC climbs to US$104,000, you’ve made an (unrealised) US$1,000 profit — $500 more than if you’d used a ‘Market’ order.
At this stage you’ll also need to adjust your margin (or leverage) by moving the slider. Margin and leverage are always correlated, so you may get the option to adjust one or both of these figures.
Margin refers to how much you’re putting up as collateral against the position’s value. For example, to open a $1,000 position with a 10% margin, you’ll deposit $100 and borrow the remaining 90% from the exchange.
You may also get the option here to isolate your position. This means that only the collateral that you’ve assigned to that trade is at risk. If the position is liquidated, it means the rest of your account balance stays untouched.
Finish adjusting your values and then make sure to review the details. Once you’re satisfied everything is in order, you’ll typically submit the order by hitting ‘buy’ or ‘sell. If you use a market order, the trade will execute immediately.
If you use a limit order, the trade will be executed at the price point you’ve entered, although you should still be able to review the trade in your list of open orders.
If the trade hasn't been executed and you decide later to cancel it, you’ll normally have the option to do so from your open orders window.
In a nutshell, crypto futures let you bet on the price of cryptocurrencies without actually owning the coins.
You’re essentially making a deal to buy or sell a coin at a set price in the future, but with most platforms, you can close out your position at any time to lock in a profit or cut a loss.
Typically, you’ll come across two main types of crypto futures contracts:
Perps are by far the most common type of futures contract. Unlike traditional futures, they don’t have an expiry date, so you can hold the position indefinitely.
Because perps don’t have an expiry date like traditional futures, to keep their price close to the actual spot market price (the price you’d pay to buy the real asset), exchanges use a mechanism called funding.
Simply put, it's a periodic payment made between traders, not to the exchange. If the futures price is trading above the spot price, traders in long positions pay a funding fee to those in short positions, and vice versa.
How often funding rates are paid/charged depends on the exchange, but it’s typically every 2, 4 or 8 hours.
Funding example
Let’s say you open a long Bitcoin perpetual futures position worth $10,000 on an exchange like Kraken or OKX. The funding rate is 0.01%, charged every 8 hours. You hold your position for 24 hours, so you’re charged 3 times that day.
Then your daily funding fee = $10,000 x 0.01% x 3 = $3
So even if the price moves in your favour, you’re still down $3 from funding fees alone. On the flip side, if the funding rate is negative and you’re in a long position, you might receive $3 instead.
Traditional futures contracts have a fixed expiry date, like weekly, monthly, or quarterly. When the expiry hits, the contract is automatically settled at the current market price, and you either make a profit or take a loss.
There are no funding rates, but you’re locked into that timeframe unless you manually close the position earlier.
Futures traders typically use leverage (borrowed funds) in order to maximise potential profits.
The downside to this approach is that your losses are also magnified, which is why futures trading is considered high risk. The margin is the amount of money you’ll need to put down on any one trade and it depends on how much leverage you’re using.
Example
Say you want to place a $1,000 trade on Bitcoin, betting that the price will go up. Using 10X leverage, you’d only need to put down $100, which is your margin.
In the steps above, you might have noticed the option to isolate your position. This is important in futures trading because this feature can limit the amount you lose.
The two main margin settings are:
Just remember, the higher your leverage, the more sensitive your position becomes to price changes, which means higher risk and potential for liquidation. For example, if you’re using 100x leverage, even a 1% price drop is enough to liquidate your position and lose all your collateral.
Each exchange sets its own liquidation rules. Some might close your position once you’ve lost 80% of your margin, while others may factor in fees differently, so it’s worth checking the fine print.
Crypto futures trading might look cheap at first, but fees can quickly eat into your profits if you’re not paying attention.
The two main fees you’ll come across are maker/taker fees and funding rates.
Maker and taker fees are what the exchange charges every time you place a trade.
These fees are usually a small percentage of your trade value — say, 0.02% to 0.075% — but with leverage, those costs can scale up quickly.
Funding fees fluctuate depending on market conditions, but they’ll typically range between -0.01% and 0.01% per funding interval.
These are payments made between long and short traders, depending on which side is more dominant. If you’re on the “paying” side of the rate, you’ll be charged a fee every few hours just to keep your position open. On some days, you might even get paid instead, but don’t count on it.
Other potential costs include withdrawal fees, currency conversion fees, and liquidation penalties if your margin drops too low.
Crypto futures are legal in Australia, but retail access is restricted.
Investors can only access regulated crypto futures through platforms that hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). And these platforms must comply with strict ASIC rules around investor protection.
At the time of writing, only a couple of exchanges, Kraken and OKX, are licensed to offer futures to Australian residents.
For the time being, you must be registered as a wholesale investor to open a futures account with either of these exchanges, which means you’ll need to pass a suitability test.
You might have come across the option to trade derivatives on platforms not mentioned here. While they might be legitimate exchanges, these are most likely unregulated (within Australia) and should be approached with caution.
Trading on an unregulated exchange comes with increased risks such as the following:
If you’re trading crypto futures in Australia, any profits you make are generally taxed as ordinary income, not capital gains.
That’s because you’re not buying and selling actual crypto — you’re speculating on price movements using a derivative contract.
So what does that mean? It means your profits are added to your annual income (like wages or interest) and taxed at your usual income tax rate. If you lose money, those losses can usually be deducted from your other income, which may reduce your tax bill.
Unlike buying Bitcoin or Ethereum directly, there’s no 50% capital gains discount on futures profits — even if you hold the position for more than a year. The ATO treats these trades more like Contracts for Difference (CFDs) than long-term investments.
Let’s say you make $1,000 profit from a Bitcoin futures trade. That full $1,000 goes into your taxable income for the year. If you lose $1,000, you may be able to claim it as a deduction.
If you’re trading regularly and your activity starts to look more like a business, the ATO may treat you as a professional trader. In that case, you’ll still be taxed on futures profits as income, but you may be able to claim additional expenses.
Needless to say, crypto tax is a grey area. If you’re unsure how your trades should be reported, chat to a registered tax agent or financial adviser.
Crypto futures trading is a high-risk, high-reward style of investing that is only recommended for advanced traders.
Because of the amplified risk of losses and global regulatory uncertainty, ASIC recommends that Australians only use futures trading platforms that carry an AFSL or AML.
Before you start trading, make sure you understand all of the risks involved, have a robust risk management strategy in place and have done some demo trading first. A common derivatives entry point is a Bitcoin futures pair like BTC/USDT, which typically has higher liquidity and less volatility than some lower market cap trading pairs.
If you're not quite ready to trade futures, you can explore other trading platforms and spot exchanges in our round-up of the best cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia.
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