DERIV Derivatives · Updated March 2026 · ~4 min · For TradingView desktop 3.2.1

Perp Mark Price vs Index Price: Don't Get Wicked Out

Trading contracts, you must understand three prices: last traded, index, and mark. Confusing them can get you liquidated for no reason, or misjudge your liquidation distance.

Three prices

• Last traded price: the current match price, spiked instantly by a single large order (a wick);
• Index price: a weighted average across multiple spot exchanges — the "true market price," resistant to single-exchange manipulation;
• Mark price: a "fair value" built on index price plus funding-rate adjustments, used to compute unrealized P&L and liquidations.

Why liquidate on mark price

If liquidation used last traded price, a manipulator could trigger a wave of stops with one wick. Using mark price (based on a multi-exchange index) filters malicious single-exchange wicks and protects you from being liquidated by manipulation. So watch mark price for your liquidation distance, not last price.