Overall, most trading platforms currently offer futures trading features (futures) for traders. However, not everyone fully understands how it works or the level of risk involved.

Simply put, a futures order is basically predicting whether the price trend of a coin will go up or down. If your prediction is correct, you make a profit; if wrong, you incur a loss. There are two main directions: Long (predicting price increase) or Short (predicting price decrease). The interesting part is that you can use leverage, meaning borrowing extra funds to increase your trading size.

Real-world example: you have $1, and with 100x leverage, the platform lends you an additional $99, giving you a total of $100 to place a futures order. Sounds attractive, but this is a trap. If your prediction is wrong, you will be liquidated, losing your assets (account liquidation) and losing all $100 initially invested.

This is probably why I always advise everyone to understand thoroughly before trading futures. The maximum leverage offered by platforms is usually x100, but you shouldn't always use the full amount.

When placing a futures order, you need to pay attention to two important things: Stop Loss (SL) - the point to cut losses, and Take Profit (TP) - the point to lock in profits. Most platforms have automated these features to protect you from adverse situations. Always enable them when placing futures trades.

Based on my experience, here are the rules I follow:

If trading BTC, only use a maximum leverage of x5 or less. For ETH and other altcoins, x3 is enough. Don’t be greedy, because one wrong move can wipe you out.

Second, divide your capital into smaller parts to gradually add to your position. This approach gives you more chances to withstand losses if the market moves against your prediction.

Third, always keep an eye on the liquidation level. Try to keep it as far away as possible to have enough time to react if the market becomes volatile.

Remember, this is just personal experience sharing, not investment advice. Everyone has different risk tolerances, so decide what’s suitable for your situation. Futures are powerful tools but also very dangerous if not used properly.