Stock perpetuals
What are Equity Perpetuals?
Equity Perpetuals are perpetual swap contracts offered by OKX that track the price of publicly traded stocks (e.g. AAPL, TSLA, NVDA). They let you trade stock price movements 24/7 using USDT as collateral, without holding actual shares or using a traditional brokerage account.
Like all perpetual swaps, they have no expiry date — you can hold a position for as long as you like, subject to margin requirements and funding payments.
Equity Perpetuals follow the same rules for margin, funding, and liquidation as other perpetual swaps of the same margin type (e.g. USDT-margined), unless otherwise specified in this document.
Available Products
US Equities
OKX initially focuses on large market-cap US equities (e.g. MAG7). As the product evolves, additional stocks may be added. Please refer to the OKX trading page or Contract Specifications page for the latest list of available equity perpetuals.
Trading pair format: [TICKER]USDT (e.g. AAPLUSDT, TSLAUSDT, NVDAUSDT). All equity perpetuals are USDT-margined.
For full contract specifications (contract size, tick size, leverage limits, etc.), please refer to the Contract Specifications page.
Account and Trading Modes
You can trade Equity Perpetuals directly in your trading account — no separate account is required. All margin modes (isolated, cross), position modes (one-way, hedge), and order types available for perpetual swaps are supported. Trading mode, multi-currency margin mode, and portfolio margin mode are all available.
Trading Hours
OKX supports 24/7 trading for Equity Perpetuals. For reference, the underlying US stock market operates on the following schedule (all times ET): Pre-Market 4:00 AM – 9:30 AM, Regular Market 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM, Post-Market 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM, Overnight 8:00 PM – 4:00 AM. Weekends and US market holidays are closed for traditional markets.
Since OKX provides round-the-clock trading, specific mechanisms are employed for index price and mark price calculation to maintain orderly pricing during off-hours and weekends.
Index Calculation
The Equity Perpetual index follows the standard OKX index calculation methodology, using multiple price sources as index components in real time (certain components may undergo EMA smoothing).
Price Sources
The index aggregates prices from multiple types of sources:
- Stock price feeds — Real-time stock prices provided by data vendors such as Pyth and Ondo API (available during market hours, approximately 5×24 hours per week)
- Equity perpetual prices — Equity perp prices from other crypto exchanges (e.g. Gate, Bitget)
- OKX contract price — OKX's own perpetual contract trading price
- Index Price from other exchanges (Hyperliquid, Binance)
Component weights are determined by market share, trading volume, and data quality. Components with lower liquidity may adopt an EMA smoothing mechanism.
During regular US market hours, the index draws from all sources, with stock price feeds carrying significant weight.
During off-hours, weekends, and holidays, the index relies more on OKX's own contract price and equity perps index price on other exchanges.
Currency Conversion (USD → USDT)
All external stock price data is natively denominated in USD. Since OKX Equity Perpetuals are margined and settled exclusively in USDT, the system automatically converts USD-denominated prices into USDT pricing using real-time USD/USDT exchange rates. This ensures a seamless trading experience and eliminates currency friction for users — you do not need to hold or convert USD manually.
If OKX adds equities from other regions in the future (e.g. stocks denominated in EUR, JPY, KRW, or HKD), the same conversion mechanism will apply: the system will first convert the local-currency stock price to USD, then to USDT, using prevailing FX rates.
Index Bands Protection
OKX enables index price bands for Equity Perpetual indices. The index price is limited within a 10% range of the stock price, where the stock price is provided by data vendors such as Pyth.
During weekends and US market holidays, stock prices stop updating, but the last available stock price is still used for index bands calculation. This prevents the index from deviating abnormally when the equity market is closed.
The 10% index bands may be adjusted in real time according to market conditions.
Mark Price
The mark price for Equity Perpetuals follows the standard OKX formula:
Mark Price = Index Price + Basis Moving Average
Where:
Basis Moving Average = Moving Average of (Mid Price − Index Price)
Mid Price = (Best Ask + Best Bid) / 2
The mark price logic is the same as for regular perpetual swaps. Refer to the Mark Price documentation for details.
Price Limits
Price limits for Equity Perpetuals follow the same logic as regular perpetual swaps. Specific parameters (upper/lower limit percentages) may vary by equity and can be adjusted in real time according to market conditions. Refer to the Price Limit documentation for details.
Funding Rate
OKX applies the standard funding rate mechanism for Equity Perpetuals. You are only charged funding if you hold a position at settlement time.
Funding settlement intervals may vary by product. Please refer to each contract's specification page for the current settlement schedule.
FAQ
How are Equity Perpetuals different from buying actual stocks?
Equity Perpetuals are derivative contracts — you are trading the price movement, not owning the underlying shares. Key differences include: you can go long or short with leverage, you trade 24/7 (not just during market hours), you use USDT as collateral, and you do not receive dividends or voting rights.
Can I trade US stock perpetuals during weekends?
Yes. OKX supports 24/7 trading. However, during weekends and US market holidays, liquidity may be lower and spreads may be wider, as traditional stock markets are closed. The index bands protection mechanism helps maintain orderly pricing during these periods.
What is the trading pair naming convention?
All equity perpetual trading pairs follow the format [TICKER]USDT. For example, Apple is AAPLUSDT, Tesla is TSLAUSDT, NVIDIA is NVDAUSDT. You can find the full list of available pairs on the OKX trading page.
Why is the price slightly different from what I see on the stock exchange?
The OKX Equity Perpetual index is a composite of multiple sources, including stock price feeds, RWA tokens, and equity perps on other exchanges. It is not a 1:1 mirror of any single exchange's price. Additionally, there may be small differences due to the USD → USDT conversion, which reflects real-time stablecoin pricing.
Are all OKX margin modes supported?
Yes. You can use isolated margin, cross margin, multi-currency margin mode, and portfolio margin mode, just like other perpetual swaps.