When trading futures, you'll notice two prices jumping around — Last Price and Mark Price. They're usually close but never quite the same. Many beginners are confused about which one determines their P&L. Register on Binance to see both prices on the futures page. Download the Binance app for mobile futures trading.
What Is Last Price?
The last price is the most recent trade execution price — someone just bought or sold at this price. It's the most intuitive market price and what candlestick charts display.
What Is Mark Price?
The mark price isn't from any single trade. It's a "fair price" calculated by Binance using an algorithm that factors in prices from multiple spot exchanges and basis data.
Its purpose is to reflect the true market value of the underlying asset, unaffected by short-term anomalies on any single exchange.
Why Does Mark Price Exist?
Imagine someone accidentally dumps a huge market order, crashing the last price 10% for a few seconds before recovery. If liquidation used last price, massive numbers of users would be wrongly liquidated.
Mark price prevents this by referencing multiple external exchanges, staying stable through single-exchange anomalies.
Which Price Determines P&L?
Unrealized P&L uses mark price. Your position page shows gains/losses based on mark price vs. entry price.
When you actually close a position, your execution price is the market's last price (market orders) or your specified price (limit orders). So realized P&L is based on your actual closing price.
Which Price Triggers Liquidation?
This is critical: Binance uses mark price for liquidation. Only when mark price reaches your liquidation price are you liquidated — last price touching your liquidation level does NOT trigger it.
This is why sometimes the candlestick wick crosses your liquidation line but you survive — that was just last price, while mark price didn't reach there.
When the Gap Is Large
Normally the gap is tiny (under 0.1%). A sudden widening means Binance futures prices are diverging from the broader market. A positive gap (last > mark) suggests strong bullish sentiment; negative means the opposite.
Practical Advice
Focus on mark price over last price, since it determines your P&L and liquidation. When setting stop-losses, choose mark price as the trigger condition for consistency with the liquidation mechanism.