How to trade X-Perps on OKX
What Are X-Perps?
X-Perps are expiry futures contracts that give you exposure to the price movement of crypto, stocks and commodities without owning the underlying asset directly. They deliver up to 10x leverage, come with multi-asset margin, advanced order types and deep liquidity across 80+ markets. A key difference to other types of derivatives is a fixed settlement date 60 months (5 years) from issuance.
→ Read more: What are X-Perps (Expiry Perps)? | Simple X-Perps FAQ | TradFi X-Perps
How to Open an OKX Account?
1. Create your account
Download the OKX app or go to okx.com, tap "Sign Up," and enter your email or phone number. Set a strong password, then confirm the verification code sent to you.
2. Turn on two-factor authentication
Add an authenticator app for extra login security before you go further.
3. Verify your identity (KYC)
You'll need this before you can trade, deposit, or withdraw. Go to your profile icon and choose "Identity verification," then:
Enter your legal name, date of birth, and address
Upload a passport or national ID
Complete a quick live selfie check
Most verifications clear in minutes, though some cases take up to a day or two.
4. Fund your account
Once verified, deposit crypto or fiat and you're ready to trade.
How to Unlock X-Perps?
X-Perps are leveraged derivative products which means that they come with an increased level of risk. As a result, you must pass a short appropriateness assessment to make sure you understand the key concepts and risks involved.
Start the assessment by clicking on "Futures" in the app or any X-Perp market on web. The assessment takes about 5 minutes. Once you've passed it, you're able to trade as soon as you have funds in your trading account.
*If you don't pass the assessment, you'll need to wait a period of time before you can retake it. If you’re new to X-Perps, refer to the X-Perps Guide for an overview of the contract specifications.
How to Fund Your Trading Account
To trade X-Perps, you need funds in your trading account. If you don’t have any funds deposited to OKX, we recommend reading our Deposit Guide (App\Web). There are multiple way to deposit or buy crypto such as through Paypal, iDEAL, EasyTransfer, Debit card or credit card and more.
To transfer funds to your Trading Account, click on the manage icon on the trading page.
Select Transfer to move funds to your Trading Account.
Set the amount the specify the account you'd like to transfer from. You should see the balance added to your Trading Account immediately. You can also withdraw funds from your Trading Account back to your Funding Account as you wish.
Understanding the OKX Trading Interface
1. In the Navigation,
On Web, you can navigate to other pages to deposit funds, check market information, or access additional products, like Spot, Earn or the Referral Program.
In the App, you can navigate to other markets and tools.
To check market information, tap the button showing the trading instrument's market data.
For other products, please go to the Homepage (the bottom left "OKX" button).
2. On the X-Perp Market
You can change the selected X-Perp Market by clicking the name on the top left:
3. The Price Chart
View the price trend, adjust the time interval, and drag the time window with ease.
Switch between last price, mark price and index price. Mark price is especially important, as liquidation settlements are based on it.
You can also see the expected funding rate near the price chart.
4. The Orderbook
View the live orderbook to see current buy (bid) and sell (ask) orders at each price level, giving you a real-time read on market depth and available liquidity before you trade.
Spot potential support and resistance levels, large clusters of orders can indicate where price movement may slow or reverse.
Adjust the tick size using the dropdown to zoom in for precise price levels or zoom out for a broader market view.
5. Order Placement
Enter the amount to place a Buy/Long or Sell/Short order, choosing from the available order types to control how and when your trade executes.
Isolated margin margin to cap your risk to a fixed amount per position, keeping losses on one trade from affecting the rest of your account balance.
Adjust your leverage to control position size relative to your margin, higher leverage increases both potential gains and potential losses.
6. The Trading Panel
Check your open orders, current positions, and position history directly in the trading panel, giving you a full view of your active and past trades without leaving the page.
7. The Margin and Asset Overview
View your position-related margin and margin ratio directly on Web to monitor how close a position is to liquidation; on App, check the same details under the "Portfolio" tab at the bottom.
What Order Types Are Available?
Market order executes immediately at the best available price: fastest entry/exit, but price isn't guaranteed.
Limit order executes only at your specified price or better: gives you control over price, but no guarantee of a fill.
Take Profit / Stop Loss (TP/SL) are automatic orders attached to a position. TP closes the position when price moves in your favour to a level you set; SL caps your loss. You can set one or both when opening a position, or add them later. They trigger based on the price type you choose (last price, mark price, or index price) and close your entire position at market price. If you set both, whichever level is hit first cancels the other.
There are also more advanced order types, such as Post-only (maker-only), Fill-or-Kill, Immediate-or-Cancel, and reduce-only orders. For more details on each order type, see
.
Index Price vs. Last Price vs. Mark Price
Index price measures the fair spot price of the underlying asset. It's typically calculated as a weighted average of spot prices from major exchanges, which keeps the index representative and reduces the impact of anomalous price moves on a single exchange.
Last price is the most recent traded price of the contract.
Mark price is a smoothed "fair value" price used to assess liquidation, so short-term spikes are less likely to trigger it. Unrealized PnL and liquidation prices are based on mark price, which is designed to resist manipulation and abnormal wicks.
What Is the Funding Rate?
The funding rate is a periodic payment exchanged between traders holding long and short positions — it's not a fee charged by OKX. It's settled periodically and keeps the X-Perps price anchored to the spot price. When the rate is positive, longs pay shorts; when negative, shorts pay longs. For more details, please visit Funding fee mechanism.
When Are Your Positions at Risk of Liquidation?
Liquidation is when the system automatically closes your position because the market has moved against you and your margin has fallen to the minimum required (maintenance) level — protecting your account from going into a negative balance. Maintenance margin is the minimum margin required to sustain the current position.
What Is Auto-Deleveraging (ADL) and How Can It Affect You?
In extreme market conditions, if a liquidated position can't be closed in the market and platform risk backstops are insufficient to absorb the loss, the auto-deleveraging mechanism reduces positions of traders on the opposite side to cover it. Traders are ranked in a queue — broadly, the most profitable and most highly leveraged positions rank first. If ADL affects you, part or all of your position is closed at the bankruptcy price. This is rare, but worth monitoring during periods of high volatility.
Closing Summary
X-Perps give you long/short flexibility, up to 10x leverage, and the opportunity to use the funding rate mechanism. X-Perps have a fixed cash settlement 60 months from issuance that most active traders will never interact with. Because leverage amplifies both gains and losses, make sure you understand margin modes, mark price mechanics, funding, and liquidation rules before opening your first position, and manage risk actively with sensible leverage and TP/SL.