> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://lit.gitbook.io/lit-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://lit.gitbook.io/lit-docs/trading-guide/spot-vs-perpetuals.md).

# Spot vs Perpetuals

### What’s the Difference?

### Spot

* You buy or sell the actual asset (like HYPE, BTC, ETH).
* You own it directly, and can transfer it out of the exchange to external wallets.
* Profit only when price goes up (unless you sell what you already hold).<br>

### Perpetual Futures (Perps)

* You don’t own the asset, you trade a contract tied to its price.
* You can go long (bet price goes up) or short (bet price goes down).
* No expiry date — you can hold as long as you want.
* Uses leverage: trade bigger size with smaller capital (Up to **40x Leverage**).
* Funding rates keep perp prices in line with the spot market.<br>

### Takeaways

* **Spot** = owning the coin.
* **Perpetuals** = betting on price moves, both ways, with leverage.