Copy futures trades to crypto perps: what carries over

More futures traders now also hold accounts at crypto perp prop firms, or trade index and gold perps on Hyperliquid or Bybit. The obvious question is whether you can trade once on your futures account and have the perp accounts follow. You can, but a futures-to-perps copy is a translation, not a straight mirror. This post covers what that translation involves. Edgeable's futures→perps mirroring is in development with an early-access list. It isn't live yet, and everything below applies whichever tool you use.

Futures and perps are different instruments

A CME Nasdaq-100 future (NQ) and a Nasdaq-100 perpetual are related, but they aren't the same contract:

• Expiry. NQ expires quarterly and trades at a basis to the index. A perp never expires. Instead, a funding rate paid between longs and shorts pulls it towards an index price.
• Size. One NQ contract is $20 × the index. A perp is sized in units of the underlying (or in USD notional), so there is no "1 contract" equivalent.
• Hours. CME equity futures close at weekends and for a daily break. Crypto perps trade 24/7, and index perps built on them keep trading while the reference market is shut.
• Price. Different venues, order books and fees give different fills. Some perps track an ETF (Bybit's QQQUSDT) rather than the index itself, so the price level isn't even the same.

The copy doesn't turn one into the other. It places a comparable order on a different market, and you decide what "comparable" means.

Step 1: choose a symbol map

You tell the copier which perp each futures symbol should trigger. Typical maps look like this:

• NQ / MNQ → a Nasdaq-100 perp such as Hyperliquid's xyz:XYZ100, or Bybit's QQQUSDT.
• ES / MES → xyz:SP500 on Hyperliquid. At the time of writing, Bybit had no S&P 500 index perp.
• GC / MGC → xyz:GOLD or XAUUSDT.
• Anything → BTC or ETH, if you want your futures signal to drive a crypto position.

The last one is common, and it's worth being blunt about it. Mapping NQ to BTC doesn't copy your exposure. It uses your NQ entries and exits as a signal for a different asset with a different volatility. That's a legitimate choice, but your futures P&L tells you nothing about how the BTC side will do. Test it before you rely on it.

Step 2: convert contracts to size

Because perps have no contracts, the copier needs a sizing rule. There are two sensible ones:

1. Notional match. Work out the dollar value of the futures position and open the same (or a scaled) notional on the perp. One MNQ is $2 × the index, so at an index level of 20,000 it's about $40,000 notional. A 0.5× scale would open roughly $20,000 of the perp.
2. Fixed size per contract. Each futures contract opens a fixed perp size, for example 0.01 BTC per MNQ. It's simpler and more predictable, but it ignores price moves.

Whichever you choose, round to the venue's minimum size and step, and cap it with a maximum size per follower. Perp prop firms also have their own leverage, position and drawdown limits, so size to the follower account's rules, not to the leader's.

Step 3: decide what happens when markets are closed

Your futures account can't trade on Saturday, but a perp position is still open and still marked to market. Decide in advance whether the follower should flatten before the futures close, hold through the weekend, or only trade during CME hours. Funding is charged while you hold too, hourly on Hyperliquid and usually every eight hours on Bybit.

Step 4: check your prop firm allows it

Crypto perp prop firms disagree about copy trading. Propr's rulebook says copy trading is permitted, including between your own Propr accounts. MyFundedPerps offers built-in copying between accounts on your own login. HyroTrader doesn't allow account mirroring at all. We've summarised what each firm says in perp prop firm copy trading rules and on the perp prop firms list. Rules change, so read your firm's current terms before you connect anything.

Step 5: dry-run first

Run the mapping with orders logged but not sent for at least a few sessions. Compare what the copier would have done with what you expected: the side, the size after rounding, and the behaviour at the close. Only then switch a small follower to live. Edgeable's perps followers will start in DRY_RUN by default for exactly this reason.

What can go wrong

• Divergence. The futures trade wins and the perp loses, because of basis, funding, a different price level or a different asset.
• Liquidation. Perps are leveraged and can be liquidated. A futures stop doesn't protect a perp position unless the copier also places or mirrors one.
• Partial copies. A follower can reject an order (size too small, leverage limit, venue down). You need to see every reject and have a one-click flatten.
• Rule breaches. A size that's fine on your futures evaluation can break a perp firm's daily loss limit.

If you'd like to test futures→perps mirroring when your venue is ready, join the early-access list. Futures-to-futures copying across Tradovate, Rithmic and TopstepX is live today.