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Dated futures are futures contracts with a fixed expiration date. Unlike perpetual futures, they do not have funding payments or a daily settlement process.

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Symbology

As an example, the symbol XAU-2026-SEP is the dated future for gold (XAU) expiring in 2026 in September (SEP). The specific expiration date/time is in the product specification, in this example it is 2026-09-30T15:00:00Z. Note that there is no “-PERP” suffix, distinguishing this dated future from XAU-PERP, which is the gold perpetual future.

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Key Characteristics

  • Fixed expiration date — Every contract has a predefined settlement date.
  • No funding payments — Traders never pay or receive periodic funding.
  • Cash settled — Contracts settle to the underlying index price at expiration.

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Final Settlement

On the expiration date, the contract settles automatically using the official index price on the expiration date. At settlement:
  1. Your final profit or loss (PnL) is calculated using the settlement price.
  2. The realized PnL is credited or debited from your account.
  3. All open positions in the expiring contract are closed automatically.
  4. The contract expires and can no longer be traded.
There is no manual action required from traders. on in another active futures contract.