Long position

A position that gains value when the price of the underlying asset rises and loses value when it falls. On a perpetual DEX you go long by buying a contract, without ever owning the asset itself.

Definition

Going long means holding a long position: exposure that profits from a rising price. On a perpetual futures market you take it by buying the contract, and you close it by selling the same size back. The asset itself never enters your wallet.

What makes it different from just buying the token

Buying a token spends the full amount and the token sits in your wallet. A long perpetual position is opened against collateral, so leverage is available, and that changes the risk in kind rather than degree.

A spot holding can fall a long way and still be a holding. A leveraged long is closed for you once your equity drops below the maintenance margin, at the liquidation price, whether or not the market later recovers.

The costs of holding one

Two recurring charges apply while the position is open, and neither shows up as a trade.

On order-book venues, the funding rate moves value between longs and shorts to keep the contract price near spot. When more traders are long than short, longs typically pay. On pool-based venues, an equivalent borrow fee accrues for as long as the position exists.

Both are small per interval and material over time. A long held for weeks can lose money while the price is flat.

Where you will run into it

Long and short are the two sides of every perpetual market, and the ratio between them drives funding, open interest and open interest imbalance. Every position panel on a perpetual DEX labels its rows with one or the other.