What are perpetual futures?
A perpetual future (a "perp") is a futures contract with no expiry date. A normal future settles on a fixed day; a perp never does, so you can hold it as long as your margin allows. To stop the contract drifting away from the real price of the asset, perps use funding payments between buyers and sellers instead of an expiry (Hyperliquid contract specifications).
Perps are now where most crypto trading happens, and exchanges such as Hyperliquid also list perps on stocks, indices, gold and oil. That is why a new kind of prop firm has appeared: firms whose evaluations are traded in perpetual futures, priced from crypto exchanges and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Funding rate
The funding rate is a periodic payment from one side of the contract to the other. When the perp trades above the spot price of the asset, the rate is positive and longs pay shorts; when it trades below, shorts pay longs. On Hyperliquid funding is peer to peer, with no fee taken by the exchange (Hyperliquid funding).
How often it is paid depends on the venue. Hyperliquid computes an 8-hour rate but pays it every hour, at one eighth of that rate. Its rate includes a fixed interest component of 0.01% every 8 hours (0.00125% an hour), and funding there is capped at 4% an hour. A worked example: if a long position worth $20,000 paid funding at 0.01% per 8 hours, it would pay $2 every 8 hours, about $6 a day.
At a prop firm, funding may not work this way at all. Some firms charge a fixed holding fee instead: MyFundedPerps charges an hourly swap fee on every open position, long or short, and shows exchange funding rates for information only; Breakout Prop charges 0.033% a day per open position, collected every four hours. Read your firm's fee page before you hold a position for days.
Leverage and margin
Leverage lets you control a position larger than the money you put up. On an exchange the money you put up is margin: the initial margin is the position's value divided by your leverage (Hyperliquid margining). Maximum leverage depends on the asset; on Hyperliquid it ranges from 3x to 40x.
At a prop firm, leverage decides how big a position you may open, but the firm's loss limits decide how much you can lose. A firm offering 40x on an index does not mean you should use it: at 40x, a 0.5% move against a full-size position equals 20% of the account.
Mark price
The mark price is the reference price used to value open positions and decide liquidations, rather than the last traded price. On Hyperliquid it is the median of three inputs: the oracle price adjusted by the recent gap to Hyperliquid's own mid price, the median of Hyperliquid's best bid, best ask and last trade, and a weighted median of perp mid prices on Binance, OKX, Bybit, Gate and MEXC (Hyperliquid robust price indices). The oracle price behind funding is a weighted median of spot prices from centralised exchanges, updated about every three seconds.
Why it matters to you: in fast markets the mark price can differ from the price you see trading on the book, so a stop or a loss limit measured on mark price can trigger at a level you did not expect from the chart.
Liquidation
On an exchange, a position is liquidated when your account equity falls below the maintenance margin. On Hyperliquid the maintenance margin is half the initial margin at the asset's maximum leverage, so it ranges from 1.25% (40x assets) to 16.7% (3x assets) of the position's value. Liquidations use the mark price, and the exchange first tries to close the position on the order book (Hyperliquid liquidations).
Why your prop firm's limit hits first
At a prop firm you will almost never reach an exchange-style liquidation, because the firm's own loss limits are far tighter. Take a $10,000 account holding a $20,000 long (2x) in an asset with 40x maximum leverage. On the exchange, maintenance margin is 1.25% of $20,000, $250, so the position would survive until equity fell from $10,000 to $250: a fall of about 49% in the asset. At a prop firm with a 3% daily loss limit, the account fails at a $300 loss, which is a fall of just 1.5%. The number that matters is your firm's daily and maximum loss, not the liquidation price.
Simulated or live?
Perps prop firms run their evaluations on simulated or demo accounts. Prices come from real exchanges, but your orders do not open real positions there. MyFundedPerps says so in plain words and adds that its simulation does not reproduce funding-rate swings or liquidation. Propr is the exception that tells you more: it copies some trades live to Hyperliquid and labels each one. HyroTrader runs on your own Bybit or BloFin demo account, so you trade on the exchange's real interface with demo funds.
Perps vs crypto CFDs vs CME futures: not the same thing
A crypto prop firm and a perps prop firm can look alike, but what you trade is different. Most crypto prop firms give you crypto as a CFD on a MetaTrader-type platform: a price contract with your broker. A perps prop firm gives you perpetual futures, the contract traded on exchanges such as Hyperliquid and Bybit, with no expiry and a funding or holding fee instead. And neither is a CME futures account like the ones futures prop firms run on NinjaTrader or Tradovate.
| Perpetual futures (perps) | Crypto CFDs | CME futures |
|---|
| What you trade | Perpetual contracts priced from exchanges like Hyperliquid or Bybit | A price contract with a broker | Exchange contracts such as NQ, ES, SI, CL |
| Expiry | None | None | Yes, with a quarterly roll |
| Holding cost | Funding rate or the firm's holding fee | Broker swap | None per day; you roll the contract |
| Hours | 24/7 | Usually 24/7 for crypto | Exchange session hours |
| Typical platform | Exchange-style terminal or exchange API | MT5, cTrader, Match-Trader | NinjaTrader, Tradovate, Rithmic |
| Markets | Mostly crypto; some firms add index, metal and oil perps (Breakout Prop: Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, silver, oil) | Crypto | Indices, metals, energy, rates, FX |
Every firm on this page offers perpetual futures. Firms that only offer crypto as a CFD are listed under crypto prop firms, not here.
How perpetual futures prop firms work
The model is the one every prop firm uses. You pay a one-time fee for an evaluation account. You must reach a profit target, usually around 10%, without breaking a daily loss limit or a maximum drawdown. Pass, and after identity checks at most firms you receive a funded account whose profits you share, usually 80% to you, sometimes 90%.
What changes with perps is everything around that model:
- Venue. Prices come from crypto-native exchanges (Hyperliquid, Binance, Bybit, BloFin, Lighter) instead of a forex broker or the CME.
- Hours. Crypto perps trade 24/7, so weekend holding is normal. Perps on stocks, indices and commodities can still have scheduled closures at some firms.
- Holding costs. Funding, or a firm's fixed swap fee, replaces the overnight swap of forex.
- Payout rails. Several perps firms pay in stablecoins on-chain (Propr, HyperPNL, Hypernova); others pay cash through a payments provider such as Rise (MyFundedPerps) or in USDT / USDC to a wallet (HyroTrader, Breakout Prop).
- Automation. Perps traders lean on bots more than most. Propr is API-first; MyFundedPerps has a documented API, a WebSocket stream and an MCP server. Others limit automation, so read the rules.
Hyperliquid prop firms
Hyperliquid is the venue most perps prop firms use for their prices. In our table, Breakout Prop (crypto plus Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, silver and oil perps), Propr, Hypernova and HyperPNL price from Hyperliquid, E8's Perpetuals 24/7 product is priced from Hyperliquid, and MyFundedPerps uses Hyperliquid among its sources. "Hyperliquid prop firm" does not mean you trade a real Hyperliquid account: the firm prices from Hyperliquid and runs your account itself. The useful differences are elsewhere: whether any trades are copied live (Propr), whether payouts come from a public on-chain reserve by smart contract (Hypernova, HyperPNL), and whether the firm is open to new traders at all (Hypernova is invite-only).
Bybit prop firms
If you already trade on Bybit, two firms keep you there. HyroTrader runs your evaluation on your own Bybit (or BloFin) demo account through the API, and Crypto Fund Trader offers Bybit by API key next to MetaTrader 5 and Match-Trader. MyFundedPerps uses Bybit among its price references but runs its own terminal.
How to choose a perps prop firm
- Drawdown type. Static drawdown (MyFundedPerps, HyperPNL's Flex) leaves your floor where it started; trailing drawdown moves it up behind your profits. For volatile perps, static is far easier to survive.
- Daily loss limit. Most firms use 3% to 5% of the starting balance. MyFundedPerps Elite No DLL has none. Check whether it is measured on equity (open positions count) and when the day resets.
- Consistency and profit-distribution rules. Crypto profits come in bursts. A rule such as "no day may be more than 40% of the target" can delay a pass or a payout.
- Holding costs. Exchange-style funding, a fixed daily fee or an hourly swap: on a position held for a week, these add up.
- Where prices come from. A firm pricing from one venue can differ from the chart you watch on another, especially around liquidation cascades.
- Payout rail and speed. On-chain USDC by smart contract, wallet payouts within 24 hours, or a manually reviewed cash payout: decide which risk you prefer.
- Payout minimums and caps. Minimums range from $20 (Propr) to several hundred dollars on large accounts; some firms cap lifetime payouts.
- Automation rules. If you run a bot, choose a firm with a documented API rather than one that tolerates it quietly.
- Your country. Perps firms restrict many countries, including some of the largest trading communities. Check the list before you pay.
- Our score and the rule tracker. New firms change rules often. Our rule changes tracker reads every firm's own site daily and dates every change.
What trading perps at a prop firm really costs
Three costs decide whether a strategy that works on paper passes an evaluation: commission, holding costs and slippage. Commission is charged on the full position value, not your margin. At 0.03% per fill (MyFundedPerps' crypto rate), a $20,000 position costs $6 to open and $6 to close: $12, or 1.2% of a $1,000 profit target, on one round trip. Ten round trips a day is $120. Breakout Prop charges 0.04% per side. Holding costs come on top for every hour or day a position stays open. A scalping strategy with a small edge per trade can lose the whole edge to fees, so test it with each firm's real rates before you buy.
Risks specific to perps prop firms
- Young firms. Several firms in this category are only a year or two old. A clean rulebook is not a long payout record.
- Leverage. Perps venues offer high leverage, and some firms pass it on. High leverage plus a 3% daily limit means a small move ends the account.
- Smart-contract and stablecoin risk. On-chain payouts are transparent and fast, but they depend on code, networks and stablecoins working as intended.
- Price differences. In a crash, the firm's price source and your chart can disagree, and loss limits are measured on the firm's price.
- Payout caps and manual reviews. Read the payout terms as carefully as the trading rules.
How we rate perps prop firms
Perps firms are scored with the same PFB Methodology as every firm on Prop Firm Bridge: four equally weighted areas (trading conditions, customer care, user friendliness and payout process), each out of five, turned into a score out of 100 and a Trusted, Moderate or High-risk verdict. Every fact comes from the firm's own website, and every firm is checked daily. Payouts that firms settle on-chain through Rise are counted live on our verified payout tracker.
