Welcome to the core of Perps Club. Kamino Perps is one of the highest-potential farming verticals on the platform — but it's also where farmers lose the most money. This guide focuses on sustainable, risk-aware perps activity that generates real volume without burning capital on fees.

Why Perps Matter for Farming

Perpetual futures markets generate high notional volume relative to capital deployed. Protocols often weight perps activity heavily in points calculations because it demonstrates genuine product usage and generates fee revenue.

However, perps farming is fundamentally different from lending:

  • Every trade costs fees (maker/taker)
  • Funding rates can work for or against you
  • Leverage amplifies both gains and losses
  • Wash trading patterns are actively filtered by most protocols
Perps Club philosophy

We don't advocate mindless volume grinding. The goal is structured, directional or delta-neutral trading that you'd do anyway — with farming as a bonus, not the sole motivation.

Available Markets

Kamino Perps supports major crypto assets. Focus on markets with:

  • Deep liquidity — SOL-PERP and BTC-PERP typically have the tightest spreads
  • Predictable funding — avoid exotic pairs with erratic funding rates
  • Lower slippage — critical when opening/closing farming positions

Core Strategies

1. Delta-Neutral Basis Trade

The most capital-efficient farming approach for risk-averse users:

  1. Buy spot SOL (or hold existing SOL)
  2. Open a short SOL-PERP of equal size on Kamino
  3. Your net exposure is ~zero — you earn/lose from funding rate differential
  4. Close and reopen periodically to generate volume

This generates meaningful notional volume while keeping directional risk minimal. Monitor funding rates — when shorts pay longs, this strategy has a cost.

2. Low-Leverage Directional Swings

For traders with market views:

  • Use 2–5x leverage maximum for farming purposes
  • Trade with the trend on SOL or BTC during high-conviction setups
  • Set stop-losses and take-profit levels before entering
  • Limit to 2–3 trades per week to control fee drag

3. Scalp the Spread

During high-volatility periods:

  • Use limit orders to enter at favorable prices
  • Target small moves (0.5–1%) with tight stops
  • Prefer maker orders to reduce fees
  • Only viable if you're already an experienced scalper

4. Collateral Integration

Combine perps with the rest of your Kamino stack:

  • Deposit JitoSOL as collateral in Kamino Lend
  • Borrow USDC against it
  • Use borrowed USDC as perps margin
  • Your collateral earns yield while you trade — triple product engagement

Fee Math: Don't Farm Yourself Broke

Before any perps farming session, calculate your fee budget:

Metric Example
Position size $5,000 notional
Taker fee (~0.05%) $2.50 per side = $5 round trip
10 round trips/week $50/week in fees
Monthly fee cost ~$200/month
Breakeven airdrop value Must exceed $200+ to be profitable
Fee optimization

Use limit orders (maker) whenever possible — maker fees are typically lower or zero. Batch your trades into fewer, larger positions rather than many small ones.

Perps Club Risk Rules

  1. Never use more than 10% of portfolio for perps margin
  2. Max leverage: 5x for farming (not 50x+)
  3. Always use stop-losses — no exceptions
  4. Track weekly P&L including fees — if you're net negative for 4+ weeks, reassess
  5. No wash trading — open/close same second repeatedly gets flagged
  6. Set a monthly fee budget and stop when you hit it

Sample Weekly Routine

A sustainable Perps Club weekly schedule:

  • Monday: Review funding rates, check collateral health factors
  • Tuesday: Open/adjust delta-neutral positions if funding is favorable
  • Wednesday: One directional trade if setup exists (optional)
  • Thursday: Rebalance collateral, check Lend/Multiply positions
  • Friday: Close or roll perps positions, log weekly volume and fees
  • Weekend: Off — review performance, read Kamino announcements

Tracking Perps Activity

Keep a simple spreadsheet with:

  • Date, market, direction, size, leverage
  • Entry/exit prices, fees paid, funding received/paid
  • Net P&L per trade and running total
  • Weekly notional volume (sum of all trade sizes)

This data helps you evaluate whether your perps farming is net profitable and adjust accordingly.