Perpetual Futures Contract vs Settlement Cadence

A derivative instrument that functions like a futures contract but has no expiry date; price is kept anchored to the underlying spot asset through a periodic funding rate payment mechanism rather than through expiry-date convergence.

The schedule on which funding payments are exchanged between longs and shorts; the standard on most major exchanges (Binance, Bybit, OKX) is every 8 hours — at 00:00, 08:00, and 16:00 UTC.