qNasdaq Perp
Trade the Nasdaq-100 in Bitcoin with a perpetual margined and settled in sats.
Overview
qNasdaq Perp is a perpetual on the Nasdaq-100, through the Invesco QQQ ETF, quoted as QQQ/USDT, margined and settled in sats, at a BTC/USDT rate locked when you place the order. It is part of the qAssets beta, open to a limited set of users.
This page covers what is specific to the Nasdaq-100. How the rate lock, funding and the quanto adjustment work for every qAsset is explained on qAssets.
Contract specification
| Description | Value |
|---|---|
| Instrument / pair | quanto_perp / qqq_usdt |
| Quantity unit | QQQ share |
| Underlying asset | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ ETF) |
| Price reference | LNM QQQ Perp Index |
| P&L | Quantity × (Exit price − Entry price) ÷ Locked BTC rate × 100,000,000 |
| Margin mode | Isolated |
| Max leverage | 20x |
| Price tick | $0.01 |
| Quantity step | 0.01 QQQ share |
| Min order | 0.01 QQQ share |
| Max quantity per order | 1 QQQ share |
| Max quantity per account | 50 QQQ shares |
| Funding interval | Every 8 hours |
| Quanto adjustment | Charged or received every 8 hours, from margin |
Margin and liquidation
Your notional is the size of the position, expressed in sats at your locked rate:
Notional (sats) = Quantity × Entry price ÷ Locked BTC rate × 100,000,000Your margin is that notional divided by your leverage:
Margin (sats) = Notional ÷ LeverageBecause the bitcoin rate is fixed, your liquidation level is a price in the underlying and nothing else. It does not move when bitcoin moves:
Long: Liquidation price = Entry price × (1 − 1 / Leverage)
Short: Liquidation price = Entry price × (1 + 1 / Leverage)Funding and the quanto adjustment are settled from your margin every 8 hours, exactly as funding works on Futures. A position held for a long time at high leverage sees its margin erode, and its liquidation level move closer, even if the underlying has not moved at all. A leveraged position left open indefinitely will eventually be liquidated by fees alone.
Maintenance margin
A maintenance margin is reserved beside your trade margin. It is not part of the margin that absorbs P&L. It is held back to cover the fees that would be charged if the position were liquidated, computed at the highest tier fee rate regardless of your own tier.
| Order type | Reserved |
|---|---|
| Market | Opening fee + closing fee |
| Limit | Closing fee |
This is the same mechanism as Futures.
Price reference
It is worth separating two things that are easy to confuse.
- The underlying asset is what you are taking a view on. For qNasdaq Perp that is the Nasdaq-100.
- The reference market is where we read its price from. That is a venue, or a basket of venues, quoting an instrument that tracks the Nasdaq-100.
| Price | Reference |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq-100 (QQQ ETF) | LNM QQQ Perp Index |
| BTC/USDT rate lock | LN Markets bitcoin index, as on Futures |
LNM QQQ Perp Index
The LNM QQQ Perp Index is a weighted average of the last traded prices of QQQUSDT perpetual futures across the constituent exchanges. It is used to compute profit and loss on qNasdaq Perp.
The current composition is as follows:
| Exchange | Weight |
|---|---|
| Binance | 100% |
Building the reference as an index rather than pointing directly at one venue's feed means the composition can be widened later, by adding exchanges or reweighting, without changing the contract, the API or anything you have open. It is the same construction as the BTCUSD Basket behind Futures.
This composition may be modified without prior notice.
Order execution, including liquidation and trigger orders, runs against available order book liquidity, not against the price reference. This is the same behaviour as Futures.
Funding
Funding on qNasdaq Perp is exchanged every 8 hours, at 00:00, 08:00 and 16:00 UTC. The rate is the Binance QQQUSDT perpetual funding rate, passed through 1:1. Direction and settlement follow the rules under Funding fee.
Quanto adjustment
The adjustment on the Nasdaq-100 uses the formula under Quanto adjustment. The rate is updated frequently as market conditions change: a higher correlation with bitcoin or higher volatility raises it, calmer markets lower it. The current rate is shown on the market's Rates screen. The adjustment is fixed every 8 hours and deducted from, or added to, the position's margin.
Why QQQ and not the index
The Nasdaq-100 is an index, not a traded instrument. The reference perpetual is on the Invesco QQQ ETF, the most liquid instrument tracking the Nasdaq-100, and QQQ follows the index almost exactly.
One QQQ share is worth about 1/40 of the index level. qNasdaq Perp is quoted at the ETF's share price, not at the index level, so a 1% move in the Nasdaq-100 shows up as a move of about 1% in qNasdaq Perp.
Ex-dividend adjustment
On the ETF's ex-dividend date, its price drops by the dividend amount, so the price of qNasdaq Perp drops too. An ex-dividend adjustment cancels that drop for your position:
- Longs are credited the amount.
- Shorts are debited it.
Ex-dividend adjustment (sats) = Quantity × Dividend per share ÷ Locked BTC rate × 100,000,000It is settled at 00:00 UTC on the ex-date, and only on positions open at that moment.
It is a transfer between traders, not a dividend: you hold no shares and nothing is withheld. It appears as its own line, Ex-dividend adjustment, in your trade history, separate from funding and from the quanto adjustment.
QQQ pays a dividend every quarter, in March, June, September and December.
No shareholder rights
qNasdaq Perp is a derivative on the price of QQQ. You hold no ETF shares and have no vote.
Trading hours
qNasdaq Perp trades 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including weekends and US market holidays. Liquidations stay live throughout, for the reasons set out under Trading hours.
The ETF's exchange session runs from 9:30 to 16:00 New York time on weekdays. Outside it, the price follows the perpetual market, which reacts to news before the exchange reopens, and spreads are wider. Size and leverage accordingly if you intend to hold across a closed session.
Read next
qAssets explains the quanto mechanism, the worked scenarios, and the costs common to every qAsset.