What is Arcus?
Arcus is a perpetuals DEX on Robinhood Chain, built by the team behind dYdX. It offers 24/7 perpetual markets linked to US stocks, commodity and index ETFs, and crypto through one self-custodial trading account.
Stock and ETF perps remain available when their underlying markets are closed. This means you can manage positions such as NVDA and SPY overnight, on weekends, and during market holidays.
Who built it
Arcus was created by the team behind dYdX and runs on Robinhood Chain. Its order book matches trades off-chain, while settlement happens on-chain. Unlike an automated market maker (AMM), Arcus uses a central limit order book where traders place bids and offers.
If you already run bots on dYdX, Arcus offers a familiar order-book trading experience, with stock and ETF perpetuals alongside crypto. See dYdX vs Arcus for a side-by-side comparison.
What you can trade
Arcus supports crypto, single-stock, commodity ETF, and index ETF perpetuals. You can manage them through the same account and collateral balance.
| Market type | Examples | Arcus trading hours | Underlying market schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crypto perps | BTC, ETH, SOL | 24/7 | Trades continuously |
| Single-stock perps | NVDA, TSLA, AAPL | 24/7 | US hours, including premarket and after-hours |
| Commodity ETF perps | GLD, SLV, USO | 24/7 | Referenced ETF's market hours |
| Index ETF perps | SPY, QQQ | 24/7 | Referenced ETF's market hours |
When an underlying stock or ETF market is closed, its Arcus perp remains open but switches to off-hours pricing, funding, and margin rules.
Arcus also offers spot Stock Tokens. Coinner bots support Arcus perpetuals, not its spot markets.
What is an Arcus stock perp?
An Arcus stock perp is a derivative contract that tracks an underlying stock without giving you ownership of the share. You can go long or short and trade 24/7, including when the traditional stock market is closed.
Because you do not own the underlying share, you do not receive voting or redemption rights, or direct dividend payments. Arcus instead accounts for dividend effects through funding. Stock perps also carry risks including leverage, liquidation, funding payments, and differences between the perp and underlying market prices, especially outside regular market hours. Read the Arcus disclaimer before trading.
How stock perps track the real thing
An asset's total return includes more than price movement. Dividends and corporate actions matter for stocks, while contract rolls matter for products based on futures. Arcus uses funding and oracle adjustments so its real-world asset perps track total return, rather than price alone.
Arcus also adjusts the oracle to account for the settlement period of the underlying stock before calculating funding. For real-world asset perps, the base rate is SOFR + 0.5% per year. This settlement adjustment does not apply to crypto markets.
How stock perps trade when the market is closed
The off-hours rules matter when a bot keeps trading overnight or through a weekend. This is where stock and ETF perps behave differently from crypto perps.
When the underlying market is closed, liquidity can be thinner and there is no live external price to anchor the perp. Arcus keeps trading open with several guardrails:
- Funding is fixed. Outside extended trading hours (20:00 to 04:00 ET, weekends, and market holidays), funding stops tracking the live premium and locks to the base rate set at the close. Funding remains live during premarket (04:00 to 09:30 ET) and after-hours trading (16:00 to 20:00 ET).
- Initial margin rises. Opening or growing a position off-hours takes more collateral. Maintenance margin stays unchanged, so the higher off-hours requirement applies only when opening or increasing a position.
- Price bands apply. Trading and the mark price stay within a range around the latest settlement price. These bands can widen gradually when price pressure continues.
- The order book drives the mark price. Without a live external quote, Arcus calculates the mark from a short moving average of the order book and keeps it within the price bands.
Crypto perps do not use this off-hours regime. Their funding remains live and their margin requirements stay constant around the clock.
For example, a Grid bot trading an NVDA perp can continue running through the weekend, but it needs more available collateral to increase its position while the underlying market is closed.
Custody and how Coinner connects
Arcus is self-custodial, with trades settled on-chain and funds held in your own account. Coinner connects through an API key authorized by your wallet. It is strictly trade-only: Coinner can use it to place and cancel orders, but it cannot withdraw or transfer funds.
Coinner receives permission to manage trades, not custody of your funds. You can revoke the API key from your Arcus account when you no longer want Coinner to trade for you.
Where Arcus is available
Arcus is not available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, or other restricted jurisdictions. Eligibility can differ between spot and perpetual markets and may change over time.
Check the Arcus terms for the current list of restricted locations. Coinner cannot provide access where Arcus trading is not available.
How Arcus compares
- dYdX vs Arcus: compare their markets, trading architecture, collateral, and supported Coinner bots.
- Hyperliquid vs Arcus: compare their order-book architecture, market coverage, account connections, and bot support.
- Aster vs Arcus: compare their supported markets, networks, collateral, account connections, and bot support.
Running bots on Arcus
Arcus's 24/7 markets allow automated strategies to keep running outside traditional market hours. Coinner supports four bot types on Arcus perps:
- Grid bots place buy and sell orders across a defined price range.
- DCA bots open or reduce a position gradually.
- Copy bots mirror traders from the Arcus leaderboard.
- TradingView bots turn your alerts into orders.
See how Arcus perps access works for current eligibility and onboarding requirements.
New to perpetual futures? Start with what a perp DEX is. Ready to automate? See Arcus trading bots.