Crypto trading glossary

Quick, plain-English definitions for the terms you'll meet on the Paperex charts and across crypto markets.

Spot trading

Buying or selling the asset itself for immediate settlement — you own what you buy. No leverage, no expiry.

Futures

A contract to trade an asset's price rather than the asset itself, usually with leverage. Lets you go long or short.

Perpetual future (perp)

A future with no expiry date. It tracks spot through the funding rate.

Long

A position that profits when price rises.

Short

A position that profits when price falls.

Leverage

Borrowing to control a position bigger than your deposit. 10x means $100 controls $1,000 — gains and losses are magnified. See leverage & liquidation.

Margin

The deposit you put up to open and maintain a leveraged position.

Liquidation

Forced closing of a leveraged position when losses reach your margin. You lose the margin posted.

Liquidation price

The price at which a position gets liquidated. Previewed before you open on Paperex.

Bid / Ask

The highest price a buyer will pay (bid) and the lowest a seller will accept (ask). See reading the order book.

Spread

The gap between the best bid and best ask. Tight = liquid; wide = illiquid.

Order book

The live list of all resting buy and sell orders at each price.

Limit order

An order to trade at a set price or better. Rests in the book until filled.

Market order

An order that fills immediately at the best available prices, crossing the spread.

Maker / Taker

A maker posts a resting order (adds liquidity); a taker crosses the spread (removes liquidity). Makers often pay lower fees.

Slippage

The difference between the price you expected and the average price you actually got — worse on thin books and large orders.

Mark price

A fair reference price (based on spot/index) used to value positions and trigger liquidations, so a single bad print can't unfairly liquidate you.

Funding rate

A periodic payment between longs and shorts that keeps a perpetual's price near spot. Full guide.

Open interest (OI)

The total value of derivative contracts currently open. Rising OI = new money/leverage entering.

Long/short ratio

How traders are positioned between longs and shorts — a crowding gauge.

CVD (Cumulative Volume Delta)

Running total of aggressive buy minus aggressive sell volume — a measure of who's pushing. Full guide.

Whale

A trader large enough to move the market. Paperex flags individual trades of $50K or more.

PnL / ROE

Profit and Loss (in currency) and Return on Equity (PnL as a % of your margin).

Volatility

How sharply price moves. High volatility means bigger, faster swings — and closer liquidations on leverage.