Lesson 10 · 6 min
Four platforms, one idea
Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, and MEXC can all show you a perpetual. They do not use the same words, clocks, or buttons.
A tutorial that says 'drag leverage to 20× and hit Buy' is already wrong on half of these desks. Coinbase US may not offer that slider. MEXC may not have a Buy button — it has Open long. Kraken may already be in cross. Binance may be in hedge mode, where Sell does not mean what it meant yesterday.
TEACHING SCHEMATIC
Not a screenshot
BTCUSDT perpetual · USDⓈ-M
Mark
100.00
Last price
100.80
- Example size
- 0.05 BTC
- Example leverage
- 5× — a classroom pick
- At risk
- The shared wallet
One-way mode is a single net position. Sell closes a long or opens a short. Mark and last are both on the header. Only mark liquidates.
- Coinbase US: count nano contracts, read estimated leverage, and remember the derivatives balance is not the spot wallet. Funding accrues hourly and settles twice a day.
- Kraken: spot margin (a loan, with rollover) is not the derivatives ticket (a contract, with funding). Cross is the default. Effective leverage moves after you enter.
- Binance: Mark versus Last, cross versus isolated, one-way versus hedge, USDⓈ-M versus COIN-M. The .com futures site is not a US account.
- MEXC: fair price, four open/close buttons, no spot-margin twin, and advertised leverage that is far past anything a first month should touch.
In one sentence. Learn the idea here. Confirm the label on the ticket in front of you. The ticket wins every argument.
MEXC's fair price is closest to which Binance idea?