How to Trade Futures on Bitget: Leverage, Cross vs Isolated, Fees and Liquidation (2026)

Updated 2026-10-17・Rules checked 2026-10-17

How to start trading futures on Bitget: first complete identity verification (Bitget calls it Individual verification), then transfer USDT from your spot account to your USDT-M futures account. After that, you can pick a trading pair on the futures page, set the margin mode and leverage, and place an order. The official Bitget futures tutorial I found lists only these steps; it does not say you have to pass a quiz or fill in a questionnaire first.

On cost, regular users (VIP 0) pay futures fees of 0.02% Maker and 0.06% Taker, calculated on position value, not on margin. Perpetual futures also carry a funding fee, settled every 8 hours or every 4 hours. Leverage ranges from 1x to 150x depending on the trading pair: BTC and ETH go up to 150x, while most pairs are capped at 20x.

Leverage magnifies both profits and losses. If the price moves against you, your position may be forcibly liquidated and you lose all the margin you put in. This guide brings together the setup steps, cross vs isolated margin, position modes, a fee worked example, liquidation prices, and take-profit and stop-loss orders, each with an official Bitget source.

Key points
Bitget’s official FAQ states that since January 1, 2024, you must complete identity verification to use core services such as crypto deposits and trading.
Bitget’s VIP 0 futures fees are 0.02% Maker and 0.06% Taker. Opening a 10x position with 1,000 USDT of margin and opening and closing it with Taker orders costs 12 USDT in total fees.
When I read Bitget’s official API on 2026-10-16, only BTC and ETH offered the maximum 150x leverage among 834 USDT-M perpetual contracts, and 395 trading pairs were capped at 20x.
The official API on the same day showed 379 USDT-M perpetual contracts settling funding every 4 hours, so the same rate is paid 6 times a day, twice as often as on contracts that settle every 8 hours.
Bitget futures default to hedge mode, and you cannot switch to one-way mode while you still have open positions or open orders.

The information below was checked against official pages on 2026-10-17 (data check date) and is provided for reference.

If you don’t have a Bitget account yet, sign up with the referral code KEVINWU and Bitget automatically refunds 20% of your net trading fees, on both spot and futures. This rate syncs with the exchange every day, and every change is recorded in the rebate rate report.

How do I enable futures trading on Bitget?

Check two things before you start. The first is identity verification: Bitget’s Individual verification FAQ states that “since January 1, 2024, identity verification is required to use core services such as crypto deposits and trading”; the steps are in the Bitget identity verification guide. The second is where you live: Bitget’s Terms of Use list prohibited countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, and also forbid getting around the restrictions with a VPN or similar tools. The full list, compared across exchanges, is in exchange restricted countries.

Steps on the website

1. Log in to Bitget and complete Individual verification.
2. Click your profile icon at the top right and choose “Transfer” from the drop-down menu (you can also find a “Transfer” button on the spot or futures account page).
3. Transfer from “Spot account” to “USDT-M Futures account”, choose USDT, enter the amount and confirm. Bitget says transfers are completed instantly (Bitget account transfer guide, 2025-01-14).
4. Click “Futures” at the top of the page, choose “USDT-M Futures”, then pick a trading pair, such as BTCUSDT.
5. Set the margin mode (cross or isolated) and the leverage.
6. Choose an order type (limit or market), enter the price and quantity, and click “Buy/Long” or “Sell/Short”.

Steps in the app

1. Go to the “Assets” page, tap “Transfer”, move funds from your spot account to your USDT-M futures account, enter the amount and confirm.
2. Tap “Trade” in the bottom navigation bar, then tap “Futures” at the top.
3. Pick a trading pair from the USDT-M futures list and tap “Leverage” to choose a multiplier.
4. Choose “Limit” or “Market”, enter the quantity or amount, tap “Buy/Long” or “Sell/Short”, then tap “Confirm”.
5. Once the position is open, the “Positions” section shows your unrealized PnL and estimated liquidation price. You can also close the position or adjust take-profit and stop-loss there.

These steps follow Bitget’s beginner guide: how to trade futures (updated 2025-12-10). If you want to practice first, use demo trading: on the website, hover over “Futures” and choose “Demo trading”; in the app, tap “…” at the top right of the futures page and choose demo trading. It is available to all users by default with nothing to activate. Bitget’s example of virtual funds is 50,000 USDT, which cannot be withdrawn or moved to a real account (Bitget demo trading guide, 2025-12-12).

If your account has been upgraded to the “Unified Trading Account”, your screens will look different from the steps above. Bitget’s Unified Account FAQ (updated 2026-09-21) states that after the upgrade, the former margin account and futures account are merged and no longer shown separately, and the former spot account becomes the funding account used for deposits and withdrawals. To switch back to the classic account, you must have no open orders, no positions and no outstanding liabilities.

Cross vs isolated margin: what is the difference, and which should you use?

Item	Isolated	Cross
How margin is allocated	Each position gets its own margin	The account’s available balance is shared across all cross positions
Maximum loss on liquidation	The margin assigned to that position	You may lose all assets in that margin currency
Liquidation price	Depends only on this position’s margin	The account balance supports the position, so the liquidation price is farther away
When one position takes a big loss	Other positions are not directly affected	Other positions’ liquidation prices move closer too
Adjusting margin	You can add or remove margin manually	Supported automatically by the account balance

Definitions follow Bitget’s introduction to futures trading features (2025-12-22) and Bitget’s key futures trading terms (2025-12-10). Bitget describes cross margin this way: shared margin “helps reduce the liquidation risk of a single position, but increases the account’s overall risk exposure”. The terms page also states that once a cross position is liquidated, you may lose all assets in that margin currency, while the maximum loss in isolated mode equals the margin assigned to that position.

Numbers make it clearer. Say your futures account holds 2,000 USDT and you use 1,000 USDT of it to open a 10x BTC long. In isolated mode, even if you are liquidated, your loss is capped at that 1,000 USDT and the other 1,000 USDT is untouched. In cross mode, the other 1,000 USDT is also used to support the position, so the liquidation price sits farther from your entry price, but if you are actually liquidated, you may lose all 2,000 USDT. Which one to choose depends on how much money you are willing to put at risk on this position.

One-way mode or hedge mode?

Bitget’s position mode guide (2025-05-13) states that “Bitget futures trading defaults to hedge mode”. Hedge mode lets you hold a long and a short on the same trading pair at the same time. One-way mode allows only one direction: an order in the opposite direction first offsets your existing position, and a “Reduce-only” option makes sure a new order can only reduce the position, never add to it.

• Switching on the website: click the preferences icon at the top right of the futures page, open “Position mode” and choose hedge or one-way.
• Switching in the app: tap the menu button on the trading page, tap “Futures settings”, and choose hedge or one-way under “Position mode”.
• Restrictions: you cannot switch while any trading pair still has an open position or open order. The setting applies separately by contract type: changing it for USDT-M futures leaves coin-margined and USDC futures unaffected, but it changes all trading pairs under USDT-M at once.

How do you set leverage, and what is the maximum?

Bitget’s introduction to futures trading features says that “depending on the trading pair, available leverage ranges from 1x to 150x”, and leverage for longs and shorts can be set separately. On 2026-10-16 I read the official Bitget contract information API and grouped the 834 USDT-M perpetual contracts in normal trading by maximum leverage:

Maximum leverage	Number of trading pairs	Examples
150x	2	BTCUSDT, ETHUSDT
125x	1	XRPUSDT
100x	19	SOLUSDT and others
75x	78	DOGEUSDT and others
40–50x	159	—
25x	87	—
20x	395	—
3–10x	93	—

In other words, 150x applies to only 2 trading pairs, and nearly half (395) are capped at 20x. The same data also shows that the minimum order amount is 5 USDT for all 834 trading pairs.

The larger the position, the lower the leverage you can use. Bitget uses position tiers to set the maximum leverage and maintenance margin rate for each band of position value. Here are the first 4 BTCUSDT tiers, read from the official Bitget position tier API on 2026-10-16:

Tier	Position value (USDT)	Maximum leverage	Maintenance margin rate
1	0–200,000	150x	0.40%
2	200,000–1,000,000	100x	0.50%
3	1,000,000–5,000,000	75x	0.70%
4	5,000,000–15,000,000	50x	1.00%

Altcoin thresholds are much lower: on the same day, SOLUSDT’s tier 1 went only up to 50,000 USDT, with a maximum of 100x and a maintenance margin rate of 0.50%; above 50,000 USDT it dropped to 75x. Tiers are adjusted by announcement, so before you place an order, go by the leverage settings screen on the futures page.

How are futures fees calculated?

The formula in Bitget’s futures order cost guide is “fee = trade value × fee rate”, where trade value is the position value, charged once on opening and once on closing. Bitget’s trading fee FAQ (updated 2026-08-20) gives standard futures rates of 0.02% for makers and 0.06% for takers; BGB fee deductions apply only to spot and cannot be used on futures. The official contract API also shows a standard rate of 0.02%/0.06% for all 834 USDT-M perpetual contracts.

Assumptions for the example: 1,000 USDT of margin at 10x, a position value of 10,000 USDT, a funding rate of +0.01% per settlement (when I read the official Bitget funding rate API on 2026-10-16, BTCUSDT’s rate was exactly 0.01%, settled every 8 hours), and a 3-day holding period.

Item	Calculation	Amount (USDT)
Opening fee (Taker)	10,000 × 0.06%	6
Closing fee (Taker)	10,000 × 0.06%	6
Maker on both opening and closing	10,000 × 0.02% × 2	4
Funding, settled every 8 hours, 3 days	10,000 × 0.01% × 9 times	9
Funding, settled every 4 hours, 3 days	10,000 × 0.01% × 18 times	18
Taker in and out + 8-hour contract	12 + 9	21 (2.1% of margin)
Taker in and out + 4-hour contract	12 + 18	30 (3.0% of margin)

Funding is the cost people underestimate most. Bitget’s funding rate guide states that when the rate is positive, longs pay shorts, and when it is negative, shorts pay longs; Bitget takes no cut. You pay or receive funding only if you hold a position at the settlement time, and nothing is charged if you close before settlement. The official API on 2026-10-16 showed that of 834 USDT-M perpetual contracts, 455 settle every 8 hours and 379 every 4 hours. The futures page shows the rate “per settlement”, so at the same 0.01%, a 4-hour contract charges you 6 times a day. The rate also has a cap and floor, by default ±0.75 times the maintenance margin rate. For BTCUSDT that day it was ±0.3%, so a 10,000 USDT position hitting the cap would pay 30 USDT in a single settlement.

Compared with the VIP 0 futures rates of a few large exchanges, Bitget’s Taker rate is on the high side, and the gap is more noticeable if you often use market orders:

Exchange	Futures Maker	Futures Taker	10,000 USDT Taker in and out	Rebate channel
Bitget	0.02%	0.06%	12 USDT	Automatic fee rebate from the exchange; see Bitget referral code
Bybit	0.02%	0.055%	11 USDT	Fee Otter; see Bybit fee rebate
Binance	0.02%	0.05%	10 USDT	Automatic fee rebate from the exchange; see Binance referral code
OKX	0.02%	0.05%	10 USDT	Automatic fee rebate from the exchange; see OKX referral code

Sources: Bitget fee page, Bybit trading fee structure (updated 2026-09-02), Binance fee page, OKX fee page. For how to get started on the other three exchanges, see the Binance futures guide, OKX futures guide and Bybit futures guide.

How does the referral code rebate apply to futures?

Bitget’s affiliates FAQ (updated 2026-04-22) states that commission is calculated on the net fees the invited user actually generates, and trades at special rates such as VIP discounts are also calculated on actual net fees. Each day’s settlement covers the previous day’s commission, which is paid to the spot account at 10:00 (UTC+8) the next day. Zero-fee trading pairs generate no commission, and for trades that use fee rebate vouchers, the commission is paid as vouchers instead. Funding fees are paid between longs and shorts and are not fees Bitget collects, so they do not generate rebates.

Example at a futures fee rate of 0.06% and the current 20% automatic rebate (rate updated 2026-10-23). Your exchange statement prevails.

The first amount above, 20,000 USDT, is the trade volume from opening and closing the 10,000 USDT position in the example. Bybit has no automatic fee rebate from the exchange on this site; its rebate channel is Fee Otter. The extra rebate is paid by Fee Otter, not by the exchange and not by Kevin Wu; the money goes to your Fee Otter account, and the rate is whatever Fee Otter’s page shows at the time. For the steps, see Bybit fee rebate.

How is the liquidation price calculated?

Bitget’s terms page says that the mark price “is calculated from the index price and the next funding rate”; it is used to calculate unrealized PnL and is also what triggers liquidation. Margin ratio = maintenance margin ÷ margin equity, and once it goes above 100%, forced position reduction or forced liquidation is triggered (Bitget’s key futures trading terms). Another official guide lists a margin ratio of 80%–90% as a warning level, at which Bitget sends an email alert (Bitget: how to avoid forced liquidation, 2025-12-10).

Bitget does not publish the full formula for the USDT-M isolated liquidation price; once a position is open, the positions section shows the “estimated liquidation price” directly. To estimate it yourself, you can use the general formula for an isolated long: liquidation price ≈ (entry price − margin ÷ quantity) ÷ (1 − maintenance margin rate − Taker rate); for a short, change both minus signs to plus signs. The table below uses a BTC entry price of 60,000 USDT, margin of 1,000 USDT, BTCUSDT’s tier 1 maintenance margin rate of 0.40% and a Taker rate of 0.06%. The price is only an assumption to keep the math simple:

Leverage	Position value	Long estimated liquidation price	Drop that triggers liquidation	Short estimated liquidation price	Rise that triggers liquidation
2x	2,000	30,138.64	49.77%	89,587.90	49.31%
5x	5,000	48,221.82	19.63%	71,670.32	19.45%
10x	10,000	54,249.55	9.58%	65,697.79	9.50%
20x	20,000	57,263.41	4.56%	62,711.53	4.52%
50x	50,000	59,071.73	1.55%	60,919.77	1.53%
100x	100,000	59,674.50	0.54%	60,322.52	0.54%
150x	150,000	59,875.43	0.21%	60,123.43	0.21%

For mental math, use “1 ÷ leverage − maintenance margin rate − Taker rate”: at 10x, that is 10% − 0.40% − 0.06% ≈ 9.5%. At 150x, a move of only about 0.2% against you in BTC is enough to liquidate the position. The real liquidation price is also affected by funding already paid, margin you adjust manually and position tiers, and in cross mode the account balance has to be included as well. To plug in your own numbers, use the liquidation price calculator.

What happens once liquidation is triggered: according to Bitget: how to avoid forced liquidation, the system first cancels open orders (in isolated mode only that position’s orders, in cross mode all of them). In cross mode, opposite positions on the same trading pair are offset against each other, positions in tier 2 and above are reduced step by step first, and whatever position remains is taken over by the risk reserve fund at the bankruptcy price. Any margin left after liquidation goes into the risk reserve fund, and Bitget states that in general users cannot get back the remaining funds after liquidation. If the risk reserve fund is insufficient or falls quickly, auto-deleveraging (ADL) may also be triggered, forcibly closing positions on the other side.

How do you set take-profit and stop-loss?

On the website, set them in the “Positions” section at the bottom of the trading page; in the app, use the “Positions” section on the futures page. You can add or change them at any time while the position is open (Bitget futures trading tutorial). The rules in Bitget’s take-profit and stop-loss guide (2025-10-23) are summarized below:

• Number: you can have up to 20 take-profit and stop-loss orders at the same time.
• Trigger price: you can choose the last price, mark price or index price. The last price reacts fastest but is easily triggered by short-term swings and abnormal trades; the mark price is steadier but reacts more slowly.
• Execution: market execution prioritizes getting filled but may involve slippage; limit execution fills only at the set price or better, so if the market doesn’t reach it, the order may not fill or may fill only partly.
• Automatic cancellation: when a position is closed by a manual close, liquidation or auto-deleveraging, its take-profit and stop-loss orders are cancelled with it. Adjusting margin manually changes the estimated liquidation price, and take-profit and stop-loss orders may not trigger as expected.
• Extreme markets: take-profit and stop-loss orders may fail, fill at a price different from the trigger price, or fill only partly. Bitget also has price protection based on the bankruptcy price. Its official example: for a long with a bankruptcy price of 80,000 USDT, if the closing price lands at 79,500 USDT, the order is cancelled automatically.

Your stop-loss has to sit before the estimated liquidation price, or the position will be liquidated first. Take the 10x long in the table above: the estimated liquidation price is 54,249.55, so a stop-loss only has a chance to trigger first if it is set at 55,000 or higher. Also, Bitget’s introduction to futures order types (2025-12-10) lists 9 order types. A “Post only” order always enters the order book as a maker order and is cancelled automatically if it would fill immediately, which guarantees you pay the 0.02% Maker rate. A “Trailing stop” order’s trigger price follows the market in one direction only, and executes at market when the price pulls back by the set amount.

The most common beginner mistakes

1. Thinking fees are charged on margin: fees are charged on position value. With 1,000 USDT at 20x, one Taker entry and exit costs 20,000 × 0.06% × 2 = 24 USDT, so 2.4% of your margin is gone before the price has even moved.
2. Ignoring how often funding settles: 45% of USDT-M perpetual contracts settle every 4 hours, so the same rate is paid 6 times a day.
3. Not knowing the default is hedge mode: in hedge mode, clicking “Sell/Short” opens a separate short instead of closing your existing long. To close, use the close button, or switch to one-way mode and use reduce-only.
4. Using cross margin without realizing it affects the whole account: when a cross position is liquidated, you may lose all assets in that margin currency, not just the amount you put in when you opened.
5. Relying only on the official calculator’s PnL: Bitget’s introduction to futures trading features states that the futures calculator leaves out fees when it calculates take-profit/stop-loss PnL and return, so what you actually receive is reduced by trading fees and funding.
6. Triggering stops on the last price and getting wicked out: the last price is the most exposed to abnormal trades, and Bitget suggests that people holding positions for the medium to long term consider using the mark price.

What are the risks of Bitget futures?

Futures are not a principal-protected product. All of the risks below are stated on official Bitget pages:

• Losing all your margin: when margin falls below the maintenance margin level, you lose all the margin in the position; in cross mode you may lose all assets in that margin currency (key futures trading terms).
• Remaining funds after liquidation cannot be recovered: leftover margin goes into the risk reserve fund, and Bitget states that users generally cannot get it back. Bitget’s simplified example also warns that if the price keeps falling, losses may exceed your margin (how to avoid forced liquidation).
• Auto-deleveraging: in extreme markets, when the risk reserve fund is insufficient, profitable positions on the other side may be forcibly closed.
• Take-profit and stop-loss orders are not guaranteed to fill: in extreme markets they may fail or fill at a different price (take-profit and stop-loss guide).
• Rules change: position tiers, maximum leverage, maintenance margin rates and funding settlement frequency are all adjusted by announcement, and the changes also apply to positions that are already open.
• Regional restrictions: the Terms of Use forbid using a VPN to get around regional restrictions, and if you are in a restricted region you may be unable to manage your positions.

Consider the risks of the exchange itself as well. Bitget’s proof of reserves and past security incidents are covered in the Bitget review, the exchange proof of reserves comparison and the exchange safety record.

FAQ

Do I have to pass a quiz to enable Bitget futures?

The official Bitget futures tutorial I found does not mention a quiz or questionnaire. The conditions it lists are completing identity verification and then transferring funds to your futures account. If your account shows an extra confirmation or questionnaire, follow what the screen asks for.

What is the minimum to trade Bitget futures?

The official API on 2026-10-16 showed a minimum order amount of 5 USDT for USDT-M perpetual contracts, and a minimum quantity of 0.0001 BTC for BTCUSDT. This is a floor on position value, not on margin: at 10x, about 0.5 USDT of margin is enough for the smallest order, but fees and the distance to liquidation are still calculated on the position.

What are Bitget’s futures fees?

VIP 0 futures fees are 0.02% Maker and 0.06% Taker, charged on position value once on opening and once on closing. BGB cannot be used to reduce futures fees. With account assets of 50,000 USDT you can reach VIP 2, where the futures Taker rate drops to 0.04%; the full VIP table is in Bitget fees.

What is Bitget’s maximum leverage?

Bitget’s stated maximum is 150x, but in the official API on 2026-10-16 only BTCUSDT and ETHUSDT could go up to 150x, and 395 trading pairs were capped at 20x. The larger the position, the lower the maximum leverage: once a BTCUSDT position exceeds 200,000 USDT, it drops to 100x.

Which is better on Bitget, cross or isolated margin?

Each has a cost. With isolated margin, the maximum loss is limited to that position’s margin, but the liquidation price is closer. With cross margin, the whole account balance supports the position and the liquidation price is farther away, but on liquidation you may lose all assets in that margin currency. Which to choose depends on how much money you are willing to put at risk on this position.

How often is the Bitget funding rate charged?

Most trading pairs settle every 8 hours, at 00:00, 08:00 and 16:00 (UTC+8), and some pairs settle every 4 hours. The official API on 2026-10-16 showed that of 834 USDT-M perpetual contracts, 455 settle every 8 hours and 379 every 4 hours. If you close before settlement, you don’t pay. How it works, compared across exchanges, is in what the funding rate is.

Can I get my money back after being liquidated on Bitget?

Generally, no. Bitget states that margin left after liquidation goes into the risk reserve fund, which takes over and closes the position, and users usually cannot get the remaining funds back.

Do Bitget futures trades earn a rebate?

Yes. For an account registered with a referral code that carries a rebate, futures fees also earn a rebate calculated on net fees, with each day’s settlement covering the previous day; zero-fee trading pairs and funding fees generate no rebate. A referral code can only be bound at sign-up. If you have already registered, see how to rebind a Bitget referral code, and for how to check your binding status, see how to check whether your referral code is bound.

The full calculation of trading fees and funding is in how futures fees are calculated, and you can run your own position through the perpetual futures cost calculator. Bitget’s fees, identity verification and overall review are covered in Bitget fees, the Bitget identity verification guide and the Bitget review; for comparisons with other exchanges, see Bybit vs Bitget and Bitget vs OKX. The referral code and how to sign up are in Bitget referral code, and every exchange’s referral code is collected in the crypto exchange referral codes roundup.