Perpetual futures let you trade both directions with leverage and no expiry. That freedom feels great. It also bites fast if you treat perps like spot. This guide walks through the mistakes almost everyone makes at the start, shows what they look like in real life, and gives you simple habits that keep your account alive long enough to learn.
Going heavy on leverage from day one
Big leverage turns small noise into big pain. Crypto can move 1 to 3% in minutes. On 20x that tiny dip feels like a cliff.
A quick picture: you post 200 dollars of margin, open a 4,000 dollar BTC long at 20x, price slips 1.5% and you are down about 60 dollars - 30% of your margin - in minutes.
Start small. Think 2x to 5x while you build a track record. Size the trade by maximum loss you accept, not by the profit you hope for.
Entering without a stop-loss or a position size
Hope is not a plan. One quick candle can erase a day of wins if you have no cap on loss.
Simple framework: pick a fixed risk per trade, for example 1% of account. If you trade a 1,000 dollar account, that is 10 dollars. Take a 5x SOL long and place your stop about 2% below entry so a full stop equals roughly 10 dollars. Wrong idea costs small, not fatal, and you are still in the game.
Ignoring the funding rate
Perps use funding - small payments between longs and shorts - to keep contract price near spot. Those small payments add up.
If funding is +0.03% every 8 hours on 5,000 dollars notional, you pay about 4.5 dollars per day to hold a long. A quiet week costs 30+ dollars even if price goes sideways. Before you enter, check the current rate and the countdown to the next funding window. If the rate bleeds against you, scale down, hedge, or wait for a better moment.
FOMO, revenge trades, and other emotional clicks
You miss a breakout, chase the top, get wicked out, flip short, get wicked again. Fees stack, patience vanishes. We have all done it.
A simple rule saves accounts: write entry, invalidation, and target before you click. If the setup is weak, skip. After a loss, take a 20 to 60 minute cooldown so the next decision is calm, not payback.
Going big during news
Macro prints, listings, hot announcements - spreads widen, fills slip, funding can flip. Good bias still loses on execution.
Picture a CPI minute: ETH jumps +1.5% then -2% in under a minute. A 15x scalp slips on entry and exit and ends red. Trade smaller around events or let the first spike pass and work with the structure that forms after the rush.
Skipping the trading journal
If you do not track, you repeat the same errors and blame the market. A tiny log turns chaos into data.
Record entry, stop, target, size, reason, result, and one word for mood. Review once a week. After 30 trades you may spot a pattern like most losses after midnight or right after a big win. Change those windows and the curve often flattens, then climbs.
Treating perps like spot
Perps are contracts tied to an index. They use mark price for PnL and liquidation, and they charge or pay funding. Spot holders can wait. Perp traders face margin rules.
Classic scenario: BTC drops 5%. A spot holder waits for the bounce. A 10x perp long without buffer gets liquidated before any bounce. The position is gone, even if price later recovers. Learn the basics that drive risk: index price vs mark price, initial vs maintenance margin, isolated vs cross, funding cadence. Ten minutes here saves real money later.
Quick checklist before entering a trade
Entry, invalidation, and target are written
Stop-loss placed, not mental
Position size fits your risk rule
Funding direction and timing known
Limit first, market only if needed
You feel calm, not chasing
Keep learning with our Perps series
To build a strong base, read the rest of our beginner set:
What Are Perpetual Futures in Crypto? A Beginner’s Guide
Perpetual Trading Explained: Key Terms Every Trader Needs
The Risks and Rewards of Perpetual Trading
How to Trade Perpetual Futures: 4 Proven Strategies
Perps are coming to Blum soon
You will trade perps right inside the Blum Telegram mini app. Long or short with leverage, manage positions in chat, track PnL in real time, and keep your flow simple on mobile. Start small, use stops, respect funding. When perps go live in Blum, you will already have a plan.
