Crypto futures trading: perpetual futures explained simply

Crypto futures are forward contracts on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They let you trade the price without owning the coins, bet on rising or falling prices and use leverage. The most common form is perpetual futures: futures without an expiry date that stay close to the spot price through a regular balancing payment, the funding rate. In Germany, futures trading is permitted for retail clients. Legally, futures are financial instruments under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive MiFID II, not crypto-assets under MiCA.