This article addresses our Global Derivatives offering, which is currently only available to eligible customers in supported regions outside of the U.S. Learn more about Coinbase's Derivatives products
The profit & loss (PnL) represents the net results of price movements, fees, and funding payments on open and closed perpetual & dated futures and crypto options positions.
P&L types
Unrealized P&L: Reflects running gains or losses while a position is open. It is calculated using the Mark Price (see Global Derivatives terms and definitions). Changes in unrealized P&L affect the account equity and available collateral, even before you close the position.
Realized P&L: The actual profit or loss locked in when all or part of the position is closed. This includes trading fees, partial liquidations (if they occurred), and any funding fees paid or received while the position was open.
Session P&L: Coinbase uses daily sessions for Global Derivatives trading. For perpetuals and dated futures, session unrealized P&L is realized at daily settlement and reflected in your cash balance. Any reducing or closing trades or funding payments within a day will be treated as session RP&L, also being credited to balances at 8:00 UTC. Session profits can be used as margin for Global Derivatives trading before settlement. Transfers out remain subject to settlement completion, margin requirements, and any other applicable holds.
Example: You open a long BTC perpetual futures position with a size of 1 BTC at 30,000 USDC. Before the next daily settlement, the mark price rises to 31,000 USDC.
Unrealized PnL = (31,000 - 30,000) × 1 = +1,000 USDC
You close the entire position at an execution price of 31,000 USDC, with total trading fees of 10 USDC and funding received of 5 USDC.
Realized PnL = (1,000 - 10 + 5) = +995 USDC
Find the P&L
Visit Portfolio view to check the unrealized P&L, session P&L and options value of open positions.
An aggregate view of the PnL settlements calculated every hour (instead of every 5 minute increment) is also available in the transaction history view.
Settlements
Daily settlement realizes session P&L into the account balance in the contract’s settlement currency, including P&L on positions that remain open. It does not close those positions or remove their market risk.
Daily settlement is separate from final settlement at a dated futures contract’s expiry. Perpetual futures do not expire.
Funding payments
Funding payments pass between long and short perpetual futures traders to help keep the contract price near the index price. Funding accrues continuously and is included in session realized P&L. It is reflected in the cash balance through daily settlement.