Perps are the most traded product in crypto by volume, yet the interface on most venues is built for professionals: order books, margin modes and funding tables. In Sparkling you describe the position, the agent fills in the order on the venue you choose, and you see the liquidation price before you sign.
A perp has four moving parts, and each of them shows up on the trade card in Sparkling.
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Margin | The collateral you post, in USDC |
| Position size | Margin multiplied by the leverage you choose |
| Mark price | A fair price used to value positions and trigger liquidation |
| Funding | Periodic payment between longs and shorts |
If the contract is priced above the spot market, long holders pay short holders, and the flow reverses when it is priced below. That pull is what lets the contract run without an end date. The multiplier behind it has its own page on leverage trading.
A traditional future settles on a fixed date, and its price converges to spot as that date approaches. A perpetual replaces the settlement date with funding: instead of one convergence at expiry, small payments every hour nudge the price toward spot. You can hold the position as long as your margin covers losses and funding.
Margin is the USDC set aside to back a position. Initial margin opens it; maintenance margin is the minimum it must keep. If losses push equity below maintenance, the position is liquidated, fully or partly, at the mark price.
Sparkling connects to two on-chain perpetuals venues, Hyperliquid and Lighter. The margin stays in your account, and the agent turns “long ETH with 200 USDC on Lighter” into an order with size, entry, liquidation price and fees. You choose the size; the agent never opens a position on its own. How the second venue verifies its matching on Ethereum is explained on our Lighter page.
| Hyperliquid | Lighter | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of venue | Own layer-1 blockchain | Zk-rollup on Ethereum |
| In Sparkling | Perps, gasless orders | Perps and BTC/ETH Up/Down options |
| How to pick it | Name it in the request or the agent suggests | Add “on Lighter” to the request |
A pre-IPO perp tracks the expected valuation of a private company instead of a coin. In Sparkling the first such market is the Anthropic pre-IPO perp, traded long or short like any other contract; it gives no shares, and Sparkling is not affiliated with Anthropic.
Availability varies by jurisdiction. Perps follow the regional rules of Hyperliquid and Lighter and local law on retail derivatives.
Status as of October 2026.
| Hyperliquid and Lighter perps through SparklingWhere the venue and local law allow | Selected regions |
|---|---|
| United States and United KingdomPerps not offered to residents | Closed |
| EU member states and NorwayRetail derivatives restrictions | Closed |
Leverage magnifies losses as much as gains, liquidation can close a position at a loss of the whole margin, and funding can cost money every hour you hold. Perps are for experienced traders. Sparkling shows the liquidation price and costs before you sign; leveraged trading carries risk and nothing here is investment advice.
Contracts that track a coin’s price with no expiry, traded with margin and settled with funding payments.
Opening long or short perp positions to profit from price moves in either direction.
The periodic payment between longs and shorts that keeps the perp near spot.
No. Network gas is not charged on perp orders placed through Sparkling.
Liquidation is designed to close the position before that, but in fast markets you can lose the full margin.
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