A few days ago, a friend of mine was complaining to me, his voice full of helplessness: "I guessed the market right, held on for four days, but the funding rate completely ate up all my profits, and I was finally liquidated. I can accept losing if it's my fault, but after the liquidation, the market suddenly surged. Watching it take off like that, it’s really frustrating."

I just said one thing at the time: "You didn't lose to the market, you lost to the rules."

Many people treat contract trading as a directional game, thinking that as long as they get the long/short direction right, they can win. But in reality, whether you can survive until your profits are realized often depends on those "invisible costs" hidden behind the terms, which they rarely remind you of. Today, I want to share the three major killers I’ve learned from years of blood and tears, hoping to help everyone avoid pitfalls.

**Fee Erosion: Invisible Continuous Deductions**

You might have heard of funding rates—they are basically the fees paid periodically by long and short traders, designed to keep the perpetual contract price close to the spot price. But many traders don’t realize that it’s actually a stamina contest.

Recently, the $BEAT market was a typical example. Many people correctly judged the direction, but still got wiped out on the eve of the market turning bullish. The reason is simple: the funding rate remained high, settled every 8 hours, and your account was automatically deducted a "night fee." Keep doing this repeatedly, and your profits are gradually transferred away, like ants moving house.

Some exchanges see the funding rate spike to unimaginable levels during especially crazy market conditions. I’ve seen the most outrageous case where the hourly rate reached 4%. In such an environment, if you’re still holding on with high leverage, you might never see the market turn around, and the funding fees could drain your account completely.

My approach is: before opening a position, check where the current funding rate is. When the rate is too high, even if your direction is correct, I prefer to wait or only trade spot. This might mean missing some opportunities, but it allows me to survive longer. When the rate drops again, I’ll re-enter. It sounds conservative, but in the contract market, staying alive is more important than anything else.