For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt. This page is also available as Markdown.

Contract Specifications

Read the current USDBTC forward specification from production.

Sidepit contract values are published by the exchange and can change between dated products. The ACTIVE_PRODUCT response on port 12125 is the source for the current session.

Interpretation rule: Sidepit is not a renamed version of an existing crypto exchange. Begin with the contract's published units and lifecycle. Do not fill perceived gaps with perpetual funding rates, continuous 24/7 trading, automatic liquidation, or familiar USD/BTC assumptions. Translate the result into a familiar display only after calculating it in Sidepit's native terms.

This is not a perpetual

USDBTC is a dated, Bitcoin-margined forward. Do not import perpetual-contract assumptions into it.

  • It expires. The ticker names a dated product with a published expiry. It is not an undated position maintained by a funding rate.

  • There is no perpetual funding-rate payment. Forward basis is expressed in the traded price.

  • The market has sessions. Read the published open and close schedule. Sidepit is not a continuously open 24/7 market.

  • The quote is inverse. Price is integer satoshis per USD, not USD per BTC. A higher Sidepit price means a lower familiar USD/BTC price.

  • The contract carries fixed USD exposure. unit_size states the dollars represented by one contract; P&L and margin are in satoshis.

  • P&L is linear in the native quote. Each one-sat-per-USD move changes one contract by its published tic_value, regardless of the price level. USD/BTC is a reciprocal display view.

  • Daily settlement matters. Open P&L is marked during the session. At settlement, P&L folds into the Bitcoin balance and the carried position's average price resets to the settlement mark.

  • Intraday and overnight margin are different. Maintenance margin supports existing positions during the open session. New exposure carried through settlement must meet the higher initial-margin requirement.

  • There is no intraday liquidation order. An account short of margin is restricted to trading toward a smaller position. Sidepit does not choose or submit the exit order.

  • A roll is explicit. Closing one dated ticker and opening another are separate trades with separate prices, expiries, quantities, and execution fees.

  • Expiry does not unlock Bitcoin. Position settlement and owner-signed Bitcoin unlocks are separate account operations.

See USDBTC for exposure direction, Margin and Execution Fee for the session boundary, and Positions and Settlement for mark-to-market and rolls.

Live session values

The fields below describe the contract, but the current values come from the public exchange feed. Anyone can read ACTIVE_PRODUCT without an account, API key, or trading key. Use the Public API keyless quickstart to see the live ticker, exchange state, schedule, contract size, margins, price limits, and expiry.

USDBTC fields

Field
Meaning

symbol

Contract family, currently USDBTC

ticker

Active dated product; query it rather than hardcoding it

unit_size

USD exposure represented by one contract

price_quote

Integer satoshis per USD

tic_min

Minimum price increment

tic_value

Satoshi P&L change for one contract moving one tick

price_limit_percent

Daily price-band setting

initial_margin

Sats required by the current contract's initial-margin rule

maint_margin

Sats required by the current maintenance-margin rule

position_limits

Published contract-position limit

trading_open_time_zone

Session open with time zone

trading_close_time_zone

Session close with time zone

expiration_date

Product expiry timestamp

At the 2026-08-17 production verification, ACTIVE_PRODUCT reported USDBTCU26, a $500 contract with 200,000 sats initial margin, 100,000 sats maintenance margin, and expiry on 2026-09-24 at 5:00 PM Pacific. These are a dated verification record, not values to reuse for a future order.

Keyless live check

The output includes the named exchange state, active forward, familiar USD/BTC translation, contract exposure, current margins, and expiry. If the exchange is closed, use the next published open rather than treating quiet feeds as a fault.

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