Pionex's futures trading platform allows users to select different trigger price types when setting take-profit and stop-loss orders, enabling flexible order placement and meeting diverse trading strategy needs. Whether placing new orders or setting take-profit and stop-loss orders for existing positions, users can choose either "last price" or "mark price" as the trigger price type. However, different trigger price types will have different impacts.
The following will provide a detailed explanation of the differences between these two price types, their applicable scenarios, and specific configuration methods to help users manage position risk more effectively.
What are Last Price and Mark Price?
Last price (also referred to as last market price) refers to the most recent transaction price in futures trading. Traditional futures contracts typically use "last price" to mark positions. However, market prices can be subject to malicious manipulation and lack of liquidity, which can cause abnormal price fluctuations.
To prevent such situations, Pionex futures trading introduced "Mark Price," which uses a fair price (rather than the latest traded price) to mark contracts. Additionally, this fair mark price is calculated from the spot index price and the bid-ask prices of the contract. It only affects the liquidation price and unrealized profit and loss (P&L).
Taking the web-based futures trading page as an example:
Applicable Scenarios and Pros and Cons
"Last Price" as the Trigger Price
Advantage: Allows the take-profit and stop-loss order's trigger price to be closer to the final execution price.
Disadvantage: Since forced liquidation is triggered by "mark price" rather than "last price," there may be situations where the "mark price" triggers forced liquidation first, while the "last price" has not yet reached the stop-loss level. This has a significant impact, especially when the stop-loss price is set close to the liquidation price.
Example: User A holds a BTCUSDT perpetual long position with an entry price of 108,000 USDT, liquidation price of 105,970 USDT, and BTC's current price at 107,000 USDT.
User A is concerned about further BTC price decline and chooses to set a stop-loss using "last price" with a trigger price of 106,000 USDT. However, when the market experiences severe volatility, the "mark price" reaches the liquidation price first, but the stop-loss order based on "last price" has not yet triggered. As a result, the position gets liquidated first, and the stop-loss order does not take effect.
Using "Mark Price" as the Trigger Price
Advantage: Using "mark price" to set a stop-loss order can reduce the risk of being liquidated despite having set a stop-loss price.
Disadvantage: Although the conditional order is triggered by the "mark price," the final execution price used when filling the order is still the "last price." Therefore, there may be a price difference between the "mark price" and "last price," resulting in the actual execution price of the stop-loss order differing from the expected execution price.
Applicable Scenarios
If you wish to make the actual trigger price closer to your expected execution price, it is recommended to choose "last price" as the trigger type for take-profit orders. This approach also helps you complete orders more quickly and effectively capture every market movement.
When setting a stop-loss price, it is recommended to avoid setting it too close to the forced liquidation price. Using "mark price" as the trigger type can reduce the risk of being forcibly liquidated even though a stop-loss price has been set.
It is recommended to set both take-profit and stop-loss orders simultaneously when placing an order. This not only makes operations more convenient but also helps reduce potential risks caused by severe price fluctuations.
How to Set and Switch Between Last Price and Mark Price?
Whether on the APP or WEB platform, you can set the trigger price type for take-profit and stop-loss orders when placing orders or for existing positions:
APP:
WEB：
