Stock perpetuals vs shares: what you actually own

A perpetual is a derivative contract

A stock-linked perpetual gives exposure to a reference price through a derivative contract. It does not deliver the company’s shares. An NVIDIA-linked perpetual in Aperi is a venue contract with its own identifier, collateral and rules; it is not an NVIDIA share held in a brokerage account.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor.gov guide describes stock as company ownership. Shareholders may have voting rights and receive declared dividends, depending on the security. A stock perpetual provides no shareholder vote, ownership claim or entitlement to the company’s dividends. Contract-specific adjustments are governed by the venue and deployer.

The reference asset and the contract are different

A familiar ticker helps identify the reference exposure, but it does not make contracts on different venues interchangeable. Two markets can reference the same company while using different collateral, funding, margin limits, price sources and liquidation rules. Aperi preserves the native venue and contract identity behind its product catalogue.

Pre-IPO markets require particular care. They are synthetic reference exposures, not allocations of private-company shares. Some reviewed instruments have a reference identity but an unverified native unit. Aperi labels that distinction instead of treating a quoted number as a verified company share price.

No expiry does not mean no holding cost

A perpetual has no scheduled expiry date like a dated futures contract. Keeping a position open still requires sufficient margin and compliance with its venue’s rules. Funding or rollover charges, fees and changes in the reference price affect the position over time.

Long and short describe the direction of derivative exposure. They do not describe buying or borrowing the company’s shares. Leveraged exposure can lose collateral quickly, and a position can be liquidated before the underlying company’s share price approaches zero.

24/7 access is subject to market availability

A perpetual market may remain open outside the reference exchange’s normal hours. That does not make the underlying share market open. Liquidity, price discovery and available oracle quotes can change during closures, holidays, trading halts and exceptional events.

Aperi distinguishes public data availability from execution. The public website currently provides market exploration; practice trading and funded submissions remain disabled. Practice requires a separately enabled local execution service. Opening a chart, signing in or connecting a wallet does not establish eligibility or trading permission.

Read the specification before interpreting the price

Use the product’s market specification to identify the reference exposure and reviewed native contract. Check the live terminal for the selected route and current availability, because a public catalogue route can change while an existing position remains tied to its original venue.

• Reference identity: common share, depositary receipt, ETF, pre-IPO exposure or another reviewed instrument.
• Native venue, contract identifier, collateral token and price unit.
• Source pricing model, available market data and any unverified reference-unit disclosure.
• Funding or rollover, leverage limits, corporate-action treatment and independent venue rules.