Spot vs derivatives: telling them apart on any app
After this lesson you can look at any trading app, say which screens are spot and which are derivatives or lending, and ask the right questions about 'Earn' and staking.
Spot aur derivatives: kisi bhi app par farq pehchanein
Bari apps spot, futures aur lending ko ek saath dikhati hain, aksar ek jaise naam ke saath. Paanch nishaniyan yaad rakhein: pair ke saath 'Perp' ya koi date, leverage ka option (1x, 20x, Cross), 'Open Long' aur 'Open Short' ke button, holding ki jagah 'Position' aur 'Liq. Price', aur har kuch ghanton baad funding. In mein se ek bhi ho to aap coin nahi khareed rahe, contract mein ja rahe hain.
'Earn' ke naam ke peeche mukhtalif cheezein hoti hain. Flexible savings aam tor par aap ke coins margin traders ko fixed rate par udhaar deti hai, jo riba ka sawal uthata hai. Chaar sawal poochein: mere coins kaun istemal karta hai, kya munafa pehle se fixed hai, asal raqam kaise ja sakti hai, aur kya main jab chahoon nikaal sakta hoon? Yaad rakhein, futures par '1x' bhi spot nahi hai.
Staking par ulama ki raaye mukhtalif hai. Kuch native staking ko network ki asal khidmat ki fees samajh kar jaiz kehte hain. Kuch slashing ke risk aur exchange ke fixed APR wale products ki wajah se ehtiyat karte hain, kyun ke woh asal mein qarz hote hain. Pehle samjhein ke kaunsi qism hai, aur apne faislay ke liye kisi qabil-e-aitmaad aalim se poochein.
- Leverage, Long aur Short ke button, Liq. Price ya funding nazar aaye to aap spot par nahi hain.
- Har 'Earn' product mein poochein ke coins kaun leta hai aur kya munafa fixed hai; qarz par fixed munafa riba hai.
- Staking par ulama mukhtalif hain, is liye pehle tareeqa-e-kaar aur dalail dekhein.
Poora sabaq neeche English mein hai. Quiz English mein hai; asaan alfaaz mein.
Kashif, an accounts clerk in Hyderabad, installs a large exchange app. The home screen offers Trade, Futures, Earn 18%, Copy Trading, Launchpool and Convert. He searches BTCUSDT, taps the first result and buys $200 worth. Only three days later does he notice the small word 'Perp' next to the pair, a '20x' setting he never chose, and a 'funding fee' taken from his balance. There is no Bitcoin in his wallet, only a 'position'. He thought he had bought a coin. He had entered a contract.
Five tells that you are not on spot
Big apps put spot, derivatives and lending side by side, often with the same pair names. The difference hides in small labels. Before any order, check the screen for these tells. If you see even one of them, you are not buying the coin itself, whatever the button says.
- The pair says Perp, Perpetual or Quarterly, or shows a date.
- There is a leverage setting: 1x, 5x, 20x, Cross or Isolated.
- The buttons say Open Long and Open Short instead of Buy and Sell.
- Holdings appear as Positions with a Liq. Price or margin ratio.
- Funding is charged or paid every few hours, and the coin cannot be withdrawn.
'Earn' products: ask where the yield comes from
Earn pages bundle very different things under one friendly word. Flexible and locked 'savings' usually lend your coins to margin traders at a set rate. 'Dual investment' products are options in disguise. Launchpools ask you to lock coins to receive new tokens. Before any of them, ask four questions: who uses my coins, is my return fixed in advance, how could I lose the principal, and can I withdraw at any time?
Staking: the questions scholars ask
On proof-of-stake networks such as Ethereum, validators lock coins to secure the network and receive rewards, from new coins and fees, for that work. Some scholars compare native staking to a fee for a real service and allow it. Others are cautious because of slashing, where locked coins can be cut for mistakes, and because many exchange 'staking' products at a fixed APR are really loans. Check which kind you are looking at before you decide.
What a '1x' perpetual and an 'Earn' account cost
Funding: a $2,000 perpetual long pays 0.01% every 8 hours in a calm market: $2,000 x 0.0001 x 3 x 30 = $18 a month, about 0.9%. In a hot market funding can reach 0.1% per 8 hours: $2,000 x 0.001 x 90 = $180 a month, or 9%. A spot holder pays none of this.
Earn: 1,000 USDT locked for 90 days at 18% APR returns 1,000 x 0.18 x 90 / 365 = 44.38 USDT. The amount is known in advance and is paid by the traders who borrow your coins. That structure is exactly what to question.
Perpetuals and futures are contracts on a price, not purchases of the coin, and most contemporary scholars do not permit them, for the reasons in lesson 4, including the hadith 'Do not sell what you do not have' (Sunan Abu Dawud 3503 / Jami at-Tirmidhi 1232). 'Earn' products that lend your coins at a set rate raise the riba concern, which the Quran treats with great seriousness (Quran 2:278-279). Crypto itself is a question on which scholars differ, and staking is one of the least settled parts of it. The main views and their sources are on /scholars/; for your own decision, ask a qualified scholar you trust.
Education, not a fatwa. Where scholars differ, we say so. See what scholars say.
Choosing '1x' on the futures screen and calling it spot. It is still a perpetual contract: you own no coin, you pay or receive funding, you cannot withdraw it, and one tap raises the leverage again. If the screen shows a liquidation price or a margin ratio, you are not on spot, whatever the leverage setting says.
Open the coin analysis for Ethereum, a proof-of-stake coin, and read its Shariah screen, noticing what it says about staking. Then open your exchange app, without trading, and sort every product on its home screen under three headings: Spot, Derivatives (futures, perpetuals, options, copy trading) and Lending or Earn. Cross out the derivatives, and mark each Earn product with a question mark until you know who uses your coins.
Read ETH's screen →Key takeaways
- If you see leverage, Long and Short buttons, a liquidation price or funding, you are on a derivative, not spot.
- For any 'Earn' product, ask who borrows your coins and whether the return is fixed; a fixed return on a loan is riba.
- Scholars differ on staking, so check the mechanics and the sources before you join.
Check yourself
Pass with 2 of 3 to complete the lesson. Answers are checked on our server, so the certificate means something.
Barqish is an educational platform. Nothing here is financial advice or an instruction to buy or sell, and screening is not a fatwa. Spot ownership only: no leverage, no short selling. Updated 30 September 2026.