Gold Futures and CFDs: Contract Structure, Costs, and Leverage
Summary
The document explains that Bitget offers gold exposure through contracts for difference (CFDs), rather than traditional exchange-traded gold futures. It compares the instruments’ contract structures, expiry, settlement, margin, trading access, and costs. Futures have standardized terms and expiry dates, while the described CFDs have flexible lot sizing, no expiry, and USDT settlement; holding CFDs overnight can incur swap charges.
It outlines a basic CFD workflow: fund an account with USDT, select a gold pair, choose size and risk settings, then open a long or short position. The article also states platform-specific leverage and commission details and illustrates how leverage magnifies exposure. It cautions that this magnification increases losses as well as gains and recommends monitoring margin and using stop-loss orders. The comparison is useful for understanding mechanics, but product terms, fees, leverage limits, and availability can change; it does not provide an independent cost comparison or a tested trading strategy.
Key ideas
- Gold futures use standardized contracts with expiry, while the described CFDs have no expiry and settle in USDT.
- CFDs provide long and short gold exposure without ownership of the metal.
- CFD costs can include per-lot commission and overnight swap fees.
- Leverage increases both position exposure and the effect of adverse price moves, making margin monitoring important.
Tags
This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.