Provider by region EU Trek Labs Europe Ltd, "Trek Technologies" SIA UAE Trek Labs Ltd FZE US Trek Labs, Inc.
This glossary defines 24 terms used on Backpack in one sentence each and links to the page where the term matters: for example, a maker fee is charged when your order rests on the order book until another trader fills it, and a taker fee when your order fills against one already there; at tier 1 Backpack charges 0.08% and 0.10% on spot.
For information only. Not investment advice. Perpetual futures are traded on margin, so a position can be liquidated and the margin lost; lending rates are variable and not guaranteed.
A perpetual future is a derivative contract that tracks the price of an asset and has no expiry date.
It is traded on margin, which magnifies losses as well as gains. The full guide to perpetual futures follows one contract from open to close.
A funding rate sets the recurring payment between holders of long and short positions that keeps a perpetual future's price near the spot price.
Only the definition is given here: the direction and timing of the payment are covered under funding payments in the guide to how perpetual futures work.
The mark price is the reference price an exchange uses to value open futures positions, calculate margin and decide when a position is liquidated.
Mark price vs last price: the last price is the price of the most recent trade, so one large order in a thin order book can move it sharply for a moment. A mark price is built to be steadier, usually from more than one price source, so that a single trade does not set off liquidations. Illustrative example: the last trade prints at 99 while the mark price is 101; unrealised profit and loss and the liquidation check are both measured against 101. How Backpack calculates its mark price is not stated in the sources read.
Open interest is the total number of futures contracts open at a given moment, with each long and short pair counted once.
It describes positions that are still outstanding, where volume describes trades already done. The contract behind the figure is explained in the beginner's guide to perpetual futures.
Initial margin is the collateral a trader must post to open a leveraged position, set as a share of the position's value.
It is the entry requirement, as opposed to the maintenance margin that keeps a position open. Margin is explained in plain terms in the margin section of the perpetual futures guide.
Maintenance margin is the minimum collateral that must stay in an account to keep a leveraged position open.
If the margin falls below it, the position can be liquidated. The perpetual futures guide's sections on margin and liquidation follow one position through that sequence.
The liquidation price is the price at which an exchange closes a leveraged position because its margin no longer covers the maintenance requirement.
Exchanges usually measure it against the mark price, not the last trade. No formula is given here; liquidation is described in the liquidation section of the perpetual futures guide.
Perpetual futures are not available in the UAE. Markets, margin and availability by region are on the page for perpetual futures markets on Backpack.
Isolated margin assigns a set amount of collateral to a single position, and only that collateral backs the position.
Choosing how margin is shared is one of the six checks in the perpetual futures guide's checklist before a first order.
Cross margin uses the whole balance of a margin account as shared collateral for every open position in that account.
A loss on one position can therefore draw on collateral that supports the others, one of the common mistakes covered in the perpetual futures guide.
Portfolio margin sets the collateral requirement from the net risk of all positions in an account instead of adding up a requirement for each one.
In stockbroking it is a risk-based alternative to fixed percentage requirements; on crypto exchanges it usually means that spot, futures and lending balances share one requirement. See margin in the perpetual futures guide.
A unified margin account is a single account in which different products, such as spot, futures and lending, share one pool of collateral.
Backpack's home page describes spot and perpetual futures on one margin system: the Backpack Exchange overview shows what shares the account, and the perpetual futures guide explains what shared margin means for a position.
Maker and taker fees are the two trading fees on an exchange with an order book: a maker fee applies to an order that waits on the book, and a taker fee to an order that fills against one at once. The worked examples use Backpack's tier 1 rates: 0.08% maker and 0.10% taker on spot, 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker on perpetual futures.
A maker fee is the trading fee charged when your order rests on the order book and is later filled by another trader's order.
A resting order adds liquidity to the market, and exchanges usually charge less for it than for an order that removes liquidity. A limit order priced away from the market normally rests; one that crosses the spread fills at once and is charged as a taker. Worked example at Backpack tier 1: a spot order worth 1,000 USDC that fills as a maker at 0.08% carries a fee worth 0.80 USDC, and the same size on a perpetual future at 0.02% carries 0.20 USDC. Other tiers are in the table of maker and taker fees by tier.
A taker fee is the trading fee charged when your order fills immediately against an order that is already on the order book.
A market order always takes liquidity, so it always pays the taker rate; a limit order does too when its price reaches the best price on the other side of the book. Worked example at Backpack tier 1: a spot order worth 1,000 USDC that fills as a taker at 0.10% carries a fee worth 1.00 USDC, and the same size on a perpetual future at 0.05% carries 0.50 USDC. The USDT/USDC pair is the exception, at 0%; see the Backpack Exchange fee schedule.
A fee tier is a level in an exchange's fee schedule that sets your maker and taker rates, usually according to recent trading volume.
On Backpack, tiers follow 30-day trading volume and are recalculated hourly; your effective tier is the highest one you qualify for by BP staked, trading volume or a pre-TGE Mad Lad NFT holding. Worked example: tier 2, reached with 350 BP staked or $100,000 of 30-day spot volume, charges 0.07% maker and 0.09% taker on spot, so a taker order worth 1,000 USDC carries a fee worth 0.90 USDC instead of 1.00 USDC. Every tier read is on the page that explains how your Backpack fee tier is set.
| Side | Price | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Ask (sell) | 100.20 | 30 |
| Ask (sell) | 100.10 | 12 |
| Bid (buy) | 100.00 | 18 |
| Bid (buy) | 99.90 | 40 |
A buy order placed at 100.00 joins the bids and waits: it pays the maker fee when a seller fills it. A buy order that accepts 100.10 fills against the resting ask at once and pays the taker fee.
Fee rates come from Backpack's trading fees support article, read on 6 October 2026, which is marked as subject to change. Funding payments, spreads and network costs are not trading fees and are left out of the examples.
Last reviewed
No rate is printed in this glossary. Lending rates are variable and not guaranteed, and the only dated figures on this site sit in the rate block on the lending page.
APR (annual percentage rate) is a yearly rate without compounding; APY (annual percentage yield) includes compounding.
For the same underlying rate, APY is therefore the higher figure when earnings compound during the year. A displayed rate is a snapshot, not a forecast: see the dated table of lending and borrowing rates on Backpack.
The utilisation rate is the share of the assets supplied to a lending market that is currently borrowed.
In pooled lending, rates usually rise as utilisation rises. How Backpack calculates its rates is not stated in the sources read for this page; the lending page explains where the lending yield comes from.
Collateral is an asset pledged to back a loan or a leveraged position, which can be sold if the obligation is not met.
If its value falls, the loan or position it backs can be liquidated. Backpack's home page describes stocks held in the account as usable as collateral; the stocks page covers using stocks as collateral on Backpack.
Auto-lend is the name of a lending feature that Backpack's home page lists together with lending and borrowing.
The sources read name the feature and do not describe it: which balances it lends, how to switch it off and what it pays are not stated. See the risks of crypto lending and borrowing on Backpack.
Proof of reserves is a published check that an exchange holds assets at least equal to the balances it owes its clients.
It shows one point in time and does not replace a financial audit. Backpack states it publishes one every day, verified by OtterSec: see the Backpack proof of reserves page and the guide to proof of reserves.
A Merkle tree is a data structure that condenses many records into one hash, the root, so any single record can be checked against it.
Exchanges use one to commit to client balances, so each client can check that their own balance is included. The basic design still reveals something about other balances (Vitalik Buterin's proof-of-solvency essay, 2022).
A zero-knowledge proof is a cryptographic method that proves a statement is true without revealing the data behind it.
In a proof of reserves it can show that client balances are non-negative and add up to a stated total without exposing them. Backpack states that its daily proof uses the method; see what the daily proof covers.
A security entitlement is the bundle of rights an investor holds against the intermediary, such as a broker, that maintains their securities account.
Section 8-102 of the US Uniform Commercial Code calls that investor an entitlement holder. Backpack's stocks page describes its shares as security entitlements under New York UCC Article 8; see how stock ownership works on Backpack.
A tokenized stock is a blockchain token linked to a share in a listed company; what the holder owns depends on its legal model.
The token may record an entitlement to the share, a claim on shares held by a custodian or vehicle, or only a contract that tracks the price. The guide to tokenized stocks compares the three models.
A CASP, or crypto-asset service provider, is a firm authorised under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) to provide crypto-asset services.
ESMA publishes an interim MiCA register with a file of CASPs. "Trek Technologies" SIA, Backpack's EU crypto company, is in it with an authorisation date of 27 May 2026; see Backpack licences and registrations.
Which company provides which product in each region is set out on the page about the companies that operate Backpack.
How definitions are sourced and reviewed is set out in the editorial and AI-use policy.
The guide follows one position from open to close, with mark price, funding, margin and liquidation in order.