Commodities Perps are perpetual swap contracts on BitMEX that provide leveraged exposure to the price movements of major physical commodities such as crude oil, silver, and gold. Traders use crypto as collateral to trade perpetual contracts on commodities including WTI crude oil, Brent crude oil, silver, and Tether Gold with up to 33.3x leverage. Like crypto perps, Commodities Perps never expire.
How does Commodities Perps work?
Commodities Perps function identically to crypto perpetual swaps, with the only difference being the underlying asset. Instead of tracking Bitcoin or Ethereum, Commodities Perps track the price of physical commodities traded on traditional markets such as the NYMEX and ICE.
Traders gain exposure to the price movement of the underlying commodity without owning the physical asset. Positions are cash-settled in USDT, meaning no barrels of oil, gold bars, or silver ingots are involved. There is no expiry date, so traders can hold positions indefinitely provided they maintain sufficient margin to avoid liquidation.
Because Commodities Perps have no expiry date, they use a funding rate mechanism to keep the contract price anchored to the underlying commodity price. Funding payments are exchanged between long and short position holders typically every eight hours. The funding bias on Commodities Perps is neutral – if the mark price aligns with the index price, neither side pays a fee.
What commodities can you trade on BitMEX?
BitMEX Commodities Perps cover major energy and precious metals markets, giving traders access to some of the most liquid and widely followed commodities globally. Available contracts include:
All contracts are linear, denominated and settled in USDT. Traders use crypto as collateral, meaning there is no need to convert to fiat or open a traditional brokerage account. The USDT settlement model keeps PnL tracking simple and consistent across all commodity perps positions.
What are the key features of Commodities Perps?
Commodities Perps share the core features that made crypto perpetual swaps the dominant derivatives instrument in digital asset markets. These features remove the barriers that traditionally prevent crypto-native traders from accessing commodity markets:
- No expiry: Hold positions for as long as needed. There is no rolling over monthly or quarterly futures contracts, no delivery obligations, and no settlement dates to manage.
- Up to 33.3x leverage: Amplify exposure to commodity price movements. A 100 USDT margin deposit can control a 2,500 USDT position on oil contracts at 25x leverage, or a 3,330 USDT position on gold at 33.3x.
- Crypto collateral: Use USDT and other supported crypto assets as margin. No fiat conversion or bank transfer is required.
- 24/7 trading: Trade continuously, even when traditional commodity markets are closed. React to OPEC announcements, geopolitical events, inventory reports, and macroeconomic data at any hour.
- Long and short: Profit from both rising and falling prices. Shorting commodity perps requires no physical borrowing, no storage costs, and no delivery logistics.
Cash-settled: All settlement occurs in USDT. Traders never take physical delivery of the underlying commodity and face no custody, storage, or transportation complications.