A hands-on tutorial for trading perpetual futures on Solana. Covers Drift, Zeta Markets, Flash Trade, and Adrena with step-by-step walkthroughs of your first perp trade.
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Leverage is the most misunderstood concept in perp trading. Here's what actually happens:
2x leverage example:
10x leverage example:
The math is straightforward: higher leverage means smaller moves can liquidate you. For beginners, 2-3x leverage gives you meaningful exposure while providing a buffer against liquidation.
Funding rates are the mechanism that keeps perp prices in line with spot prices. They're critically important for anyone holding positions for more than a few hours.
How it works:
What this means for you:
Practical tip: Always check the current funding rate before opening a position. If funding is 0.1% hourly and you're going long, you'll pay roughly 2.4% per day just to hold the position. That's a significant drag on profitability for swing trades.
You can view funding rates on each protocol's interface:
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Open the KOL TrackerPerpetual futures (perps) let you trade with leverage without an expiration date. On Solana, you can go long or short on dozens of tokens with up to 100x leverage — all on-chain, no KYC, and with sub-second execution. This guide walks you through everything you need to know to place your first perp trade on Solana.
A perpetual future is a derivative contract that tracks the price of an asset without ever expiring. Unlike traditional futures that settle on a specific date, perps run indefinitely as long as you maintain your position.
Key concepts:
Leverage: Trade with more capital than you deposit. 10x leverage means a $100 deposit controls a $1,000 position. Your gains and losses are amplified by the same factor.
Long vs Short: Go long if you think the price will increase. Go short if you think it will decrease. Perps make it equally easy to profit from both directions.
Margin: The collateral you deposit to open a position. On Solana perp protocols, this is typically USDC, SOL, or other supported tokens.
Liquidation: If your position moves against you enough that your margin can't cover the loss, the protocol automatically closes your position. This protects the system but means you lose most or all of your margin.
Funding rate: A periodic payment between longs and shorts that keeps the perp price close to the spot price. If more traders are long, longs pay shorts. If more traders are short, shorts pay longs. Funding is typically settled every hour on Solana protocols.
There are four main perpetual trading protocols on Solana. Each has a different architecture and set of trade-offs.
Drift is the largest perp DEX on Solana by open interest.
Drift's hybrid model means your order first tries to match against other traders' limit orders (the order book). If there's no match, it fills against the vAMM at an algorithmically-determined price. This provides good liquidity even in less popular markets.
Zeta Markets runs a fully on-chain central book (CLOB).
Zeta's pure order book model means all trades are matched between counterparties. This can provide better pricing for limit orders but might have wider spreads on less liquid pairs.
Flash Trade uses an oracle-based model.
Flash Trade's oracle model means your trade executes at the current oracle price regardless of position size. There's no slippage from order book depth or AMM curves. This is great for larger positions but requires trusting the oracle feed accuracy.
Adrena is a newer perp protocol focused on a streamlined trading experience.
Let's walk through opening a leveraged position on Drift, the most popular option.
You need a Solana wallet with funds. Phantom is the most popular choice.
Before trading perps on Drift, you need to deposit collateral into your Drift account.
Your deposited funds appear in your Drift account balance. This is your available margin.
Navigate to the "Perp" tab
Select your market — SOL-PERP is a good starting point
Choose your direction:
Set your position parameters:
Review the details shown:
Click "Open Long" or "Open Short"
Confirm the transaction in Phantom
Once open, your position appears in the "Positions" tab at the bottom of the screen. You'll see:
When you're ready to exit:
Your realized PnL (profit or loss) is added to or subtracted from your Drift account balance.
Perp trading without risk management is gambling. Follow these rules to protect your capital:
Every position should have a stop loss — a price at which you automatically exit to limit losses.
On Drift: Use the "TP/SL" (take profit/stop loss) feature when opening a position. Set your stop loss at a level where the loss is acceptable to you — typically 1-5% of your total trading capital per trade.
The 1-2% rule: Never risk more than 1-2% of your total trading capital on a single trade. If you have $1,000 in your account, your maximum loss per trade should be $10-20.
This means adjusting both your position size and leverage so that your stop loss, if hit, only loses 1-2% of your capital.
Protocols offering 50x or 100x leverage doesn't mean you should use it. Even experienced traders rarely go above 5-10x. Higher leverage:
Don't use 100% of your deposited collateral as margin. Keep at least 30-50% as free margin. This gives you room to:
For positions held longer than a few hours, funding costs are a real expense. Track them and factor them into your PnL calculations. A trade that shows +5% unrealized profit but has accrued -3% in funding is really only +2%.
Using high leverage on your first trade. Start with 2-3x. You can always increase later once you understand how liquidation distances feel in practice.
Not accounting for funding rates. A "free" carry trade can quietly drain your margin through hourly funding payments.
Moving stop losses. You set a stop loss for a reason. Moving it further away when price approaches it is the fastest way to turn a small loss into a large one.
Averaging down on a losing leveraged position. Adding to a losing perp position increases your risk. If the trade idea was wrong, exit. Don't double down.
Ignoring liquidation price. Always know exactly where your liquidation price is and how much buffer you have. Temporary wicks can trigger liquidations even if price quickly recovers.
Trading without a plan. Before entering any perp trade, know your entry, stop loss, take profit, and position size. If you can't define all four, don't trade.
Once you're comfortable with basic perp trades, explore:
Start small, learn the mechanics with real (but small) money, and scale up only when you consistently manage risk well. Jupiter for spot trading and Drift for perps is a solid starting combination for any Solana trader.
For a deeper dive into any single protocol, our full Drift Protocol guide covers vaults and lending in more detail, and our funding rates explainer breaks down the carry-trade strategies mentioned above.
Browse all Solana perpetual protocols on MadeOnSol's DeFi directory.