A complete, clear, and no-nonsense guide to avoid losing before you start
Binance Futures is one of the most widely used products in crypto… and also one of the products where most beginners lose money.
Not because it’s “bad”, but because most people jump in without truly understanding what they are doing.
1️⃣ What Are Binance Futures? (explained simply)
A future is a contract that allows you to speculate on the price of an asset without actually owning it.
On Binance Futures:
You don’t buy Bitcoin, ETH, or any other coin
You trade a contract that tracks the asset’s price
You can profit if the price goes up (long) or goes down (short)
👉 Important:
Most Binance futures are perpetual contracts, meaning they have no expiration date.
2️⃣ Why Do Futures Exist?
Futures were not created for “fast money”.
They exist for:
Hedging: protecting a portfolio
Speculation: betting on price movements
Liquidity: improving market efficiency
In crypto, they became popular because they allow:
Trading with small capital
Profiting in both bull and bear markets
But this comes at a cost: high risk.
3️⃣ Leverage: the most dangerous (and misunderstood) part
Leverage allows you to trade with more money than you actually have.
Example:
You have 100 USDT
You use 10× leverage
You control a 1,000 USDT position
This means:
If price moves in your favor → profits are amplified
If price moves against you → losses are amplified and faster
📌 Key point most people ignore:
Leverage does not increase your chances of winning.
It only accelerates the outcome, whether good or bad.
4️⃣ Liquidation: how and why you lose your entire position
Liquidation happens when your losses reach the margin you provided as collateral.
When this happens:
Binance automatically closes your position
You lose almost all the margin used
It doesn’t matter if price later reverses
👉 This is not a scam
👉 Binance is not “stealing” from you
👉 It’s pure mathematics
That’s why understanding liquidation is more important than technical analysis.
5️⃣ Isolated Margin vs Cross Margin (this really matters)
🔹 Isolated Margin
Each position has its own margin
If liquidated, you only lose what was assigned
Safer for beginners
🔹 Cross Margin
Uses your entire available balance
One bad trade can drain everything
Higher risk, higher stress
📌 Simple rule:
If you don’t clearly understand why to use Cross, don’t use it.
6️⃣ Funding Rate: the hidden cost many don’t understand
The funding rate is a periodic payment between traders:
Sometimes you pay
Sometimes you get paid
Its purpose is to keep futures prices close to the spot market.
What matters:
Binance doesn’t pay it
Traders pay each other
It can eat your profits if you hold positions too long
Many traders lose money even when price moves in their favor, simply because they ignore funding.
7️⃣ Orders: it’s not just Market and done
In Futures you have:
Market
Limit
Stop-Loss
Take-Profit
Reduce-Only
Trading Futures without a stop-loss is not courage — it’s ignorance.
A disciplined trader:
Defines risk before entering
Knows exactly how much they can lose
Never improvises once capital is at risk
8️⃣ Why do most people lose money in Futures?
It’s not Binance.
It’s not “manipulation”.
The real reasons are usually:
Excessive leverage
No risk management
FOMO entries
Not understanding liquidation
Emotional trading instead of a plan
📉 The market doesn’t need to go against you.
📉 You usually do that yourself.
9️⃣ Are Futures for everyone?
No.
Futures are:
❌ Not investing
❌ Not passive income
❌ Not a game
They are an advanced tool, suitable only if:
You accept losses
You understand the product
You have discipline
You trade small
Otherwise, the market removes you quickly.
🔟 Clear and honest conclusion
Binance Futures are not bad, but they are merciless.
They don’t forgive mistakes.
They don’t care about excuses.
They don’t adapt to your emotions.
If you decide to use them:
Start small
Use low leverage
Learn before scaling
Protect your capital
Because in Futures, survival is already a win.