Understanding equity perps in Phantom
Equity perps are perpetual futures that track the price of stocks, equity indices, and other traditional market assets. They let you trade price movements without owning the underlying asset.
To learn how perpetual futures work, including leverage, margin, liquidation, and funding rates, see Understanding perp trading in Phantom.
Warning: Equity perps carry the same risks as all perpetual futures, including leverage and liquidation. They also have additional pricing risks because they track traditional markets using oracle data and third-party deployers.
How equity perps work #
Equity perps in Phantom are powered by Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework, which lets third-party deployers create perpetual futures markets. Instead of trading shares through a broker, you trade a synthetic contract that tracks the underlying asset’s price using oracle feeds.
Phantom doesn’t issue or manage these contracts.
Deployer #
Each deployer designs its own pricing logic, oracle feeds, and contract rules. Phantom does not control these deployer-specific settings.
Today, Phantom supports equity perps deployed by trade.xyz.
Before trading, review the deployer's documentation so you understand how the market works. To learn more, see Overview of trade.xyz perps.
Pricing #
Equity perps track the underlying asset using live market data while traditional markets are open. When markets are closed, prices reflect expected movement, deployer pricing models, liquidity, and market demand.
Because equity perps are synthetic markets that can trade 24/7, the perp price may differ from the price you see on traditional exchanges or charting platforms.
When the equity market is open #
During regular US equity market hours, including any pre-market or after-hours sessions supported by the deployer, equity perps track the underlying asset's price using real-time data from the deployer's oracle feeds.
Prices may still differ slightly from traditional exchange prices because of:
- Liquidity in the perp market
- Funding rate imbalances
- Oracle update timing
When the equity market is closed #
When the underlying equity market is closed, such as overnight, on weekends, or on US market holidays, there is no live stock price for the perp to track.
During these periods, the perp price may be influenced by:
- News events that may affect the next market open
- Pricing models used by the deployer and liquidity providers
- Supply and demand within the perp market
Deployers may apply guardrails to help limit extreme deviations from the last known equity price while still allowing the market to respond to expectations.
Important: It is normal for equity perps to trade at prices that differ from Nasdaq, TradingView, or other market data sources, especially outside regular market hours. Equity perps are synthetic markets that track oracle data and market expectations. They do not execute against the stock itself.
Risks #
Equity perps carry all the same risks as other perpetual futures, including leverage, liquidation, and funding payments. They also have additional considerations:
- After-hours volatility: Perp prices can move even when the underlying market is closed.
- Deployer dependency: Each deployer's oracle, pricing method, and contract behavior can differ.
- Funding payments: Funding may affect your returns, especially during imbalanced markets.
Only trade what you are comfortable risking. For more information about leverage, liquidation, funding rates, and margin, see Understanding perp trading in Phantom.