Robinhood’s US perpetual-futures rollout puts funding and liquidation costs in focus

Robinhood’s US crypto perpetual-futures offering has moved beyond its initial announcement: the company’s US support page now describes a rollout to eligible customers, who will be notified when access is available. The product was announced at the 29 September summit and recapped on 7 October. Its published terms make the comparison with spot crypto more specific, because the headline trading charge is only one component of holding leveraged exposure.[3][1][2]

The original announcement named Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, Cardano, Chainlink and Hyperliquid, with up to ten-times leverage on Bitcoin and Ether and three-times on the other contracts. Robinhood identified Robinhood Derivatives and Bitstamp as the delivery route. Current US support also describes the contracts’ collateral tiers, which can increase the effective collateral requirement as position size grows.[1][6]

Fees, funding and settlement

The commission and venue fee together equal the advertised 0.01%, or one basis point, before their rounding effects. Robinhood says the stated rates apply through 31 December 2026 and are subject to change. At $10,000 of notional exposure, opening costs $0.50 in commission and $0.50 in venue fees. Closing at the same notional adds another $1, producing $2 in transaction charges before funding, execution effects or any liquidation charge.[4]

Profit and loss settle every 15 minutes, while funding occurs every eight hours. Those are different cash-flow processes. Robinhood’s operating guidance gives funding times of 00:00, 08:00 and 16:00 UTC: depending on the rate, a position pays or receives funding. A trader who closes before the funding period ends neither pays nor receives that period's funding under the published terms.[3][5]

Leverage changes the comparison

Consider a hypothetical $10,000 position supported by $1,000 of starting collateral. A 1% adverse move in the contract’s price produces approximately a $100 loss, equivalent to 10% of that starting collateral, before fees and funding. The transaction charge is calculated on the $10,000 exposure as well. Comparing the fee with the amount of collateral alone would therefore understate the scale of the position being traded.[4][6]

Robinhood describes isolated collateral allocated to individual positions and a separate perpetuals account that customers fund manually. The lack of an ordinary expiry date allows a position to continue only while its collateral requirements are met; insufficient collateral can trigger a partial or full liquidation. Perpetual positions also create price exposure without ownership of the underlying coin.[5][3]

The brokerage’s US rollout brings continuously managed crypto exposure into a familiar retail interface. The useful commercial comparison now combines transaction charges, funding over the intended holding period, executable spreads and the collateral needed for the actual position size. Access remains subject to the phased rollout and account eligibility described in the US documentation.[3][4][6]

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