Mark-to-market values an open crypto futures position at a reference price. Settlement books a contract's cash flows under its venue rules; an interim settlement may realize PnL without closing the position, while final settlement at expiry closes the contract at its defined delivery price. Keep valuation, booked PnL and remaining quantity separate to avoid counting the same gain twice.
The word “settled” cannot tell you whether exposure ended. An account balance may change while the same contracts remain open, and a final delivery price may differ from the last mark you observed. The useful question is which event occurred and what that event changed.
Three events that should occupy separate ledger rows
| Event | What it measures or changes | Does the contract remain open? |
|---|---|---|
| Mark-to-market observation | Values remaining exposure using the applicable reference | Yes, unless another event closes it |
| Interim PnL settlement | Books the period's price result according to contract rules | It can remain open |
| Final expiry settlement or delivery | Completes the expiring contract using its delivery terms | The expiring position ends |
These are operational distinctions, not universal labels. Deribit explicitly calls its daily 08:00 UTC PnL process settlement: non-expiring futures positions stay open while session PnL is realized internally. Its delivery event closes an expiring contract. This makes “realized” compatible with continued market exposure. Deribit: daily settlement and final delivery.
Do not confuse either event with a collateral transfer. Moving funds behind a position changes its support; it does not by itself establish a trading result. The futures margin-transfer ledger follows that different movement.
Funding also needs its own classification. A perpetual funding payment is not evidence that the contract expired. Keep a displayed estimate apart from an actual payment using the predicted versus realized funding guide. The perpetual funding-cost worksheet covers the separate carry calculation.
Follow one position through two bookings and expiry
This original hypothetical worksheet uses a linear, USDC-settled dated future with exposure equivalent to 2 ETH. Assume an entry price of 3,000 USDC per ETH, an initial cash balance of 2,000 USDC and no other positions, transfers, fees or charges. Assume the position survives every checkpoint without liquidation or partial reduction.
The reference prices and booking schedule below are invented. They illustrate incremental accounting, not an exact exchange's settlement-price method or margin engine. In this worksheet, each booking moves accumulated open price PnL into cash and establishes a new calculation basis for the next interval. The original economic entry remains 3,000.
| Checkpoint | Reference, USDC/ETH | New price-PnL booking | Cash balance | Unbooked open PnL | Equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | 3,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 |
| After first daily booking | 3,100 | +200 | 2,200 | 0 | 2,200 |
| Later mark observation | 3,075 | 0 | 2,200 | −50 | 2,150 |
| After second daily booking | 2,950 | −300 | 1,900 | 0 | 1,900 |
| After final delivery | 3,050 | +200 | 2,100 | 0 | 2,100 |
All monetary columns are in USDC. Exposure remains 2 ETH equivalent through the second daily booking and becomes zero at final delivery. These futures do not represent a spot inventory of 2 ETH in the account.
The first booking is 2 × (3,100 − 3,000) = 200. At the later mark, only the move since that booking remains unbooked: 2 × (3,075 − 3,100) = −50. Equity is therefore 2,200 − 50 = 2,150. The lifetime price result at that moment is still 200 − 50 = 150, matching 2 × (3,075 − 3,000).
The second daily booking uses the previous booked basis, not the intervening observation: 2 × (2,950 − 3,100) = −300. An observation did not create a separate cash credit or debit. Finally, delivery books 2 × (3,050 − 2,950) = 200 and ends the exposure.
The three bookings sum to 200 − 300 + 200 = 100 USDC. That equals the full price move, 2 × (3,050 − 3,000) = 100. Reporting the 100-USDC lifetime result and adding the same 100-USDC settlement total again would incorrectly report 200.
Keep costs alongside this identity. If an invented combined 6-USDC entry and delivery charge applied, the modeled net result would be 100 − 6 = 94 USDC. Actual fees require the contract's current schedule; the example is not a fee quote or return forecast.
Delivery price is a defined reference, not a promised exit fill
Deribit's linear-futures specification states that the contracts settle in USDC and use a 30-minute time-weighted average of the relevant index for expiry. It separately says mark price values unrealized PnL. Those references serve different jobs. Deribit: linear futures settlement and mark price.
Consequently, the last mark captured by a report need not equal the eventual delivery price. A final settlement calculation also differs from manually selling into the order book. A manual close has actual execution quantities and prices; expiry follows the contract terms.
For an inverse contract, do not reuse the worksheet's linear price-difference formula. Identify the contract multiplier, payoff formula and settlement asset first. Nor does “delivery” automatically mean receiving the underlying coin: the documented Deribit linear future settles its PnL in USDC.
If a plan requires owning the underlying asset after the future expires, that is a separate acquisition. The base versus quote market-buy guide explains why an instruction to spend a quote budget and an instruction to acquire a fixed asset quantity have different execution outcomes.
A settlement record can arrive after the screen changes
A realistic failure occurs when an exporter sees open PnL reset to zero and treats it as a loss, while another process imports the cash booking as a new profit. Both processes are reading pieces of the same event. Reconcile the opening quantity, incremental bookings and ending quantity before interpreting either display.
Deribit's transaction-log field definitions distinguish settlement and delivery types, event price, mark price, cash-flow changes and position size. Its funding amounts can be included in realized cash flow. An importer that adds a funding column again without checking inclusion can duplicate that component too.
Bybit likewise documents separate USDC session-settlement records and delivery records. The first exposes session price, mark, size and realized PnL; the second exposes delivery price, executed size, fee and delivery PnL. Both pages warn that extreme volatility can delay data delivery. A temporarily absent record is therefore unresolved evidence, not proof of zero cash flow.
A compact expiry reconciliation worksheet
Before attributing a balance movement, complete these checks:
- Identify the venue, account, exact dated instrument, direction, multiplier and settlement asset.
- Record the expiry timestamp and applicable delivery-price methodology. Preserve the timezone.
- Retain the original entry and each subsequent booking basis with event timestamps and identifiers.
- Separate price PnL, fees, funding, collateral movements and other account activity; document any fields that already include another component.
- Confirm the final delivery record, remaining quantity and unresolved orders. Reconcile the cash total with the lifetime result once.
A positive interim result does not remove the risk of a later loss before expiry. The mark-price and liquidation explanation addresses that earlier risk event. Settlement accounting describes what was valued or booked; it cannot guarantee survival until delivery.
Editorial method: Prepared with AI assistance on 23 October 2026 from the linked primary documentation. The ledger and reconciliation worksheet are original teaching examples. Venue mechanics described here do not establish KLINEO support for dated futures or settlement-history imports.