Perpetuals
Overview
Real Exchange includes a non-custodial decentralized perpetual trading market designed for on-chain trading of leveraged markets using stablecoin collateral. The protocol enables users to gain long or short price exposure without holding the underlying asset, while maintaining full control of funds through self-custody.
Perpetuals uses a pooled-liquidity, oracle-driven design with automated funding and liquidation mechanisms, delivering transparent execution, predictable risk management, and on-chain settlement.
Purpose
Enable non-custodial perpetual trading on-chain
Provide leveraged price exposure without asset custody
Settle profits and losses transparently through smart contracts
Use stablecoins as primary collateral for margin and settlement
Enforce risk management through automated protocol logic
Support scalable, capital-efficient perpetual markets
Key Features
Perpetual markets
Long and short positions with leverage
Stablecoin-settled PnL
No traditional order book; execution via protocol pricing
Pooled liquidity model
Liquidity providers supply capital to protocol vaults
Traders interact with pooled liquidity rather than direct counterparties
Oracle-driven pricing
Index prices sourced from trusted oracle providers
Mark price logic designed to reduce manipulation and MEV risk
Funding rate mechanism
Periodic funding aligns perpetual prices with index prices
Funding payments are settled on-chain
Automated liquidations
Maintenance margin enforced at the protocol level
Permissionless liquidators incentivized to close unsafe positions
Non-custodial design
Users retain control of private keys and assets
All trades, positions, and settlements are verifiable on-chain
Architecture
Core Protocol
Smart contracts managing:
Position lifecycle
Collateral accounting
PnL calculation
Funding accrual
Vault-based liquidity system
Deterministic execution enforced entirely by smart contracts
Pricing and Oracles
External index price feeds for reference pricing
Mark price computation for funding and liquidation logic
Safeguards against stale or manipulated pricing data
Execution and Automation
Keeper network responsible for:
Order execution
Funding updates
Liquidation triggers
Permissionless execution aligned with protocol incentives
Risk Management
Initial and maintenance margin parameters per market
Maximum leverage caps
Open interest and exposure limits
Example User Flow
User connects a wallet to the Real Exchange interface
User deposits stablecoins into protocol vaults as collateral
User selects a perpetual market
User opens a leveraged long or short position
Protocol calculates margin requirements and funding exposure
Funding accrues periodically while the position is open
Margin is continuously monitored on-chain
If maintenance margin is breached:
Liquidators execute on-chain liquidation
User closes the position
PnL settles directly to the user’s wallet
Codebase Overview
The Real Exchange perpetuals codebase is structured around modular smart contracts and supporting infrastructure:
contracts/
Core smart contracts for trading, margin, and accounting
contracts/core/
Market state, positions, collateral, and configuration
contracts/exchange/
Trade execution and position lifecycle logic
contracts/oracle/
Price feeds, validation, and safety checks
contracts/keeper/
Automation for funding updates and execution
contracts/liquidation/
Liquidation eligibility and execution logic
contracts/reader/
Read-only helpers for front-end and analytics
contracts/peripherals/
Routing and UX-focused helper contracts
scripts/
Deployment and operational scripts
deploy/
Network-specific deployment configurations
test/
Unit and integration tests
frontend/
Web interface for trading and position management
docs/
Protocol documentation and specifications
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