Guide to Futures Trading Operation (Website)
#Basic
#Futures
#Beginners
Futures trading is an important part of the cryptocurrency market, where traders use leverage flexibly to lock in a portion of their margin for long and short trades, aiming to achieve high returns from small investments. This guide aims to provide beginners with a detailed overview of operations to easily start futures trading.
On MEXC, futures trading is divided into USDT-M perpetual futures and Coin-M perpetual futures. This guide will focus on USDT-M futures for web-based futures trading. If you're more comfortable using the app for futures trading, you can check out the article "MEXC Futures Trading Tutorial (App)" to learn more.
1. Transferring Funds
Before trading futures, ensure that your futures account has the corresponding assets, namely USDT. If your futures account does not have USDT, you can transfer from spot assets. There is no fee for these transfer operations.
Open the MEXC official website and log in to your account. Click on [Wallets] in the top right corner, then click on [Futures].
Click the [Transfer] button on the right side to transfer assets from your spot account to your futures account. Choose USDT under the [Crypto] section and enter the amount you want to transfer under [Quantity]. Click [Transfer] to complete the transaction.
2. How to Place an Order
Because [Position Mode], [Margin Mode], and [Leverage Mode] can significantly affect your profits and losses in futures trading, MEXC suggests that you follow these steps to place an order:
- Set your [Position Mode], [Margin Mode], and [Leverage Mode].
- Select the order mode.
- Set your parameters.
- Complete the order by choosing either [Open Long] or [Open Short].
2.1 Setting thePosition Mode
Position mode on MEXC is divided into hedge mode and one-way mode. The difference lies in whether you can hold both long and short positions for a trading pair concurrently.
For example, if you plan to trade BTC/USDT perpetual futures, in hedge mode, you can hold both long and short positions for the BTC/USDT futures pair at the same time, while in one-way mode, you can only hold either a long or short position.
On the MEXC website, select [Futures] in the top navigation bar, then choose [USDT-M Perpetual Futures] under [Perpetual Futures] to enter the trading page. On the trading page, switch to the BTC/USDT perpetual futures trading pair.
Click on the settings [⚙️] button in the upper right corner to open the preferences page.
In the preferences page, navigate to [Position Mode] under the Trading settings, and select either [Hedge Mode] or [One-Way Mode]. Once you've made your choice, click [Confirm] to save the settings. Here, we will illustrate using hedge mode.
Note that you cannot adjust the position mode if you already have open positions or orders placed.
2.2 SettingMargin Mode
The MEXC platform has two margin modes: cross margin and isolated margin.
In cross margin mode, you use all available balances in the corresponding settlement crypto as position margin to maintain the position and avoid liquidation. In this margin mode, if the asset net value is insufficient to meet the maintenance margin requirement, forced liquidation will be triggered. If the position is forcibly liquidated, you will lose all assets in the corresponding cryptocurrency.
In isolated margin mode, each order's position is calculated independently when the order is triggered. If you need to add margin, even if you have sufficient assets in other isolated or cross margin accounts, the system will not automatically add margin to that trading pair, and you will need to manually add margin.
Click on [Cross] or [Isolated] on the right side of the MEXC futures trading page to open the margin mode setting pop-up. Choose your settings and click [Confirm] to activate. Here we demonstrate with the cross margin mode.
Please note that the adjusted margin mode does not apply to existing positions and orders.
2.3 Setting Leverage Mode
MEXC's leverage modes are divided into Simple Mode and Advanced Mode. The difference lies in whether long and short positions use leverage with the same or different multipliers and margin modes.
Click the settings icon [⚙️] in the upper right corner of the trading page to open preferences page, click on [Leverage Mode] under trading settings, choose either [Simple Mode] or [Advanced Mode], then click [Confirm].
Here we demonstrate using Advanced Mode as an example. The advanced mode allows long and short positions to use different leverage multipliers and margin modes. As shown in the figure below, the long position uses 25x leverage in isolated margin mode, while the short position uses 20x leverage in cross margin mode.
2.4 Setting Order Placement Mode
MEXC supports five different types of order modes, namely limit orders, market orders, trigger order, trailing stop orders, and post only orders. If you want to learn more about these order modes, you can read the article: "Placing Different Types of Futures Orders"
Let's demonstrate order placement using a limit order mode as an example.
Set the margin mode to [Cross], leverage to [20x], and choose the [Limit] mode. Enter the target price in the [Price] field below. In this example, we will use 65,000 USDT, and input the [Quantity] as 49%. Click on either [Open Long] or [Open Short] below to complete the order.
3. OrderMonitoring
If your order has not yet been triggered, you can check it in the [Open Orders] section below, as shown in the image below. If your order has been triggered, you can check it in the [Open Positions] section.
3.1 Closing Positions
If your order has been triggered and results in profit or loss, you can actively [Close] your position according to your expectations. You can also proactively [Close] your position by setting up TP/SL functions before or after placing an order. For more information, please refer to the article "Setting Take-Profit and Stop-Loss for Futures Trading."
3.2 ForcedLiquidation
Forced liquidation is a passive liquidation action. MEXC ensures that losses do not exceed the margin you deposited. When the existing margin falls below the required amount to maintain the position, the unfilled part will be forcibly settled. For more information, please refer to the article "What is Forced Liquidation?"
Futures trading requires ongoing learning and strategic adjustments based on market conditions. For newcomers, it's crucial to manage risks effectively, allocate positions sensibly, avoid blindly following others' advice, and trade based on your own judgment.
Disclaimer: This information does not provide advice on investment, taxation, legal, financial, accounting, or any other related services, nor does it constitute advice to purchase, sell, or hold any assets. MEXC Learn provides information for reference purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and exercise caution when investing. The platform is not responsible for users' investment decisions.