Mark price, last price, index price and premium index on futures
Mark price, last price, index price and premium index
On the futures trading page you see several different prices for the same contract. They are not the same, and each is used for a different purpose. This article explains them and the price history pages.
The four prices
| Price | What it is (app wording) | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Last Price | "The most recent trade execution price on this contract." | The price on the chart and in the ticker bar. Can be chosen as a TP/SL or stop trigger ("Last"). |
| Mark Price | "Fair value price calculated from the index price and funding basis. Used for liquidation calculations and unrealized PnL." | Your unrealized PnL, ROE, liquidation, and the "Mark" trigger choice for TP/SL and stop orders. |
| Index Price | "Reference spot-based price used to derive mark price. Click to open the index price history page." | Anchors the mark price and funding. |
| Premium Index | "Relative spread between mark price and index price. Click to open the premium index history page." | Shows how far the contract trades above or below the index. |
Why it matters:
- The mark price is used for liquidation calculations, not the last price, so watch the mark price on the Positions tab.
- Your PnL on the Positions tab uses the mark price (see Reading your positions).
- When you set a stop or take profit you choose Mark or Last as the trigger price type (see TP/SL guide).
- If the mark price is missing for a conditional order you see "Mark price is unavailable for this conditional order".
The ticker bar
At the top of the trading page you see: Last Price, 24h Change, 24h High, 24h Low, 24h Volume, Mark Price, Index Price, Premium Index, Funding / Countdown (click it for the funding details; see Futures fees and funding), Open Interest ("Total outstanding perpetual contracts that have not been settled. High open interest indicates active market participation.") and Contract Specs (Max Lev, Tick, Step).
Contract states you may see
- Pre-Trading / Upcoming: "This pair is not yet available for trading. A countdown shows when trading begins." with "Trading starts in" a countdown, then "Starting soon...". Until then you see "Trading is not available yet".
- Maintenance: "Maintenance Notice:" "This symbol is temporarily unavailable. Trading data may be limited."
- Symbol not found: "The futures contract you requested could not be found." and "The symbol may be delisted, unavailable in your region, or typed incorrectly. Choose another trading pair." with buttons Back to BTCUSDT Perp and View all markets.
- Market data failed to load: "Couldn't load market data. Check your connection and try again." with Try again.
Price history pages
Index price and mark price history
- Open Index Price History or Mark Price History. The two tabs at the top are Index Price and Mark Price. (Old links /futures/index-price and /futures/mark-price redirect here.) In the ticker bar, the Index Price and Premium Index open their history pages when clicked.
- Choose a Symbol and an Interval: 1m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 1h, 4h or 1d (default 15m). Only USDT perpetual contracts that are trading are listed.
- The page shows Current Index Price (or Current Mark Price), the data source "Synthetic Symbol" (for example "Index BTCUSDT"), a chart ("Index Price Chart" / "Mark Price Chart"), and a table with Time, Open, High, Low, Close. The table has 20 rows per page with Previous and Next, and shows "Page 1 of 3". The latest 200 candles are loaded.
- Back to Futures Trade returns to the trading page.
Subtitles: "Track the historical index price used to anchor perpetual futures fair value." and "Track the historical mark price used for liquidation and unrealized PnL on perpetual contracts."
Messages: "Loading index price data...", "No index price data available yet." ("No mark price data available yet."), and "Price history for this market isn't available yet."
Premium index history
Open Premium Index History. Same Symbol and Interval controls, chart and table. The title explains it: "Track the historical premium index derived from mark price and index price for perpetual contracts." Values are shown as percentages with a plus or minus sign, "0.0000%" when zero and "--" if unknown. Empty: "No premium index data available yet."
For the funding rate itself, see Funding rate history.
FAQ
Why is my PnL not the same as the chart? The chart shows the last price; your PnL uses the mark price.
Why was I liquidated when the chart never reached my Liq. Price? Liquidation uses the mark price. See Margin and liquidation.
Can I trade the index price? No. The index price is a reference price, not a tradable contract.
Why can't I find a symbol on the price history page? Only trading USDT perpetual contracts are listed. A new pair may show Pre-Trading first.
When to contact Support
Send the contract, the time, the price you saw (last, mark or index) and the price you expected, screenshots of the ticker bar and of the price history page, and the interval you used.
Safety reminder
Prices can move sharply. Stop and take-profit orders do not guarantee a fill price. Never share your password, 2FA code, seed phrase or private key.
Related terms: mark price, last price, index price, premium index, fair price, price history, mark price history, index price history, premium index history, why liquidated, pnl uses mark price, ticker bar, 24h change, open interest, tick size, step size, contract specs, pre-trading, symbol not found, maintenance notice, price chart, interval, trigger price type
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