I often see traders complaining bitterly: the trend judgment was completely correct, they held long positions for four days, and in the end, one person’s funding fees ate up 1,000 USD, and they still got liquidated. After closing the position, the market instantly surged, and they could only watch helplessly.

The truth behind this: it’s not about misjudging the trend, but being destroyed by the "invisible rules" of contracts. Too many focus on candlestick patterns and price levels, but completely underestimate the destructive power of those unseen costs.

**The First Hidden Cost Pitfall: The Funding Rate’s "Weed Cutting" Mechanism**

Funding fees are settled every 8 hours, reflecting the degree of imbalance between long and short positions. In positive fee environments, longs pay shorts; in negative fee environments, the opposite. The problem is: once the fee rate exceeds 0.1% and remains high for two consecutive rounds, your principal is directly eroded. Those who are fully leveraged and chasing hot coins suffer the most— even if the overall trend is correct, they might be liquidated before the market truly takes off.

To avoid this pitfall, learn to read the situation: try to avoid high-fee windows, and if you hold positions, keep them within 8 hours, or flip the script—be the one paying the funding fees.

**The Second Hidden Cost Pitfall: The Liquidation Price Is Always Closer Than You Think**

Many people are mistaken. With 10x leverage, do you only get liquidated if the price drops 10%? Wrong. In reality, a 5% drop can trigger liquidation. Why? Because exchanges add liquidation fees and slippage losses when calculating the liquidation price, so the actual liquidation point is often much closer than the theoretical calculation.

Countermeasure: use isolated margin mode to contain risk within a single position; keep leverage between 3x and 5x; ensure sufficient margin reserves to give yourself enough buffer space.

**The Third Hidden Cost Pitfall: High Leverage Is a Killer Sword**

100x leverage sounds exciting, but fees and funding are deducted based on the borrowed principal. Plus, Maker and Taker fees, even small gains, can be eaten up entirely by costs.

Core logic: high leverage is for quick trades, requiring rapid entry and exit; lower leverage allows for long-term holding.

The essence of futures trading is a rule-based game. Exchanges aren’t afraid of your correct judgment on price movements—they fear you truly mastering the game rules. To survive and make money, the key isn’t just betting on rises or falls, but understanding the rules thoroughly before playing them.