Methodology

Market data sources

All prices, candles, marks, and funding rates on Hex37 stream live from Binance. The trade workspace's price chart, order book context, and 24-hour statistics use the same feeds that Binance traders see, with the connection maintained over WebSocket for sub-second update latency. We chose Binance because it is the deepest crypto venue by volume across most major instruments, which means the price tape is the closest available proxy for the broader market.

Funding rates are the actual Binance perpetual funding rates for each instrument, applied to your simulated position at the same 8-hour settlement intervals real exchanges use (00:00, 08:00, and 16:00 UTC). When Binance adjusts a funding rate intraday, our simulator picks up the new rate on the next tick.

Execution model

The execution engine simulates the friction layer real trading includes. Every fill applies the following mechanics:

• Slippage of 0.05% to 0.2% on the execution price relative to the intended price. The distribution is wider on volatile assets and thinner books; the slippage is applied whether the order is a market order or a fast-crossing limit order.
• Partial fills on orders sized large enough to require chunking on the live book. The partial-fill model triggers above thresholds calibrated to typical Binance book depth for each instrument.
• Probabilistic fills near the top of the book (70% to 100% fill rate). A passive limit order placed at the inside is not a guaranteed instant cross; the model reflects that real makers sometimes get faded as faster orders cross ahead of them.
• Funding payments every 8 hours using the actual Binance perpetual funding rate. Funding is calculated against position notional (not margin) and settles at the rate boundary; the running funding cost is visible on every open position in real time.
• Liquidations at 1% maintenance margin. The forced-close runs a market order through the simulated book with realistic adverse slippage, deducts the 0.5% liquidation fee, and writes the receipt to the journal. The full sequence mirrors what a real exchange engine produces.

These parameters are not arbitrary. They were tuned against observed execution costs on Binance mainnet for typical retail-size orders. They are also configurable in code, so we adjust them when live-market conditions shift (such as funding-rate volatility expansion during major regime shifts).

Account and balance mechanics

Every account starts with $10,000 in virtual USDT. The balance resets on demand. Spot trades and perpetual trades share the same balance. Both isolated margin and cross margin are supported, with isolated set as the default. Maintenance margin is 1% of notional across all instruments; the position sizer displays your liquidation price in real time as you adjust leverage and stop placement.

Content review process

Every blog post, learn chapter, paper-trade market page, and glossary entry on Hex37 carries a published date and (where relevant) a last-reviewed date. Content is written or reviewed by someone with hands-on trading experience. We update pages when the underlying mechanics change: a new order-type feature, a change to funding-rate behaviour, the addition of a new instrument, or the discovery of an error in an earlier explanation.

We do not publish trading signals, price predictions, or advice on whether to buy or sell specific assets. The educational content describes mechanics, frameworks, and patterns; the application of any of that to a specific trade is the trader's decision.

Platform-evaluation methodology

For comparison and review content (the best paper trading apps list, the direct competitor comparisons, and the deflected-demand alternative pages), each platform is evaluated on the same explicit criteria:

• Truly free. No card, no trial, permanent Free tier.
• Realistic execution. Does the platform simulate slippage, partial fills, funding, and liquidation?
• Crypto futures coverage. Does the platform offer paper trading on crypto perpetual futures?
• Funding simulation. Are perpetual funding payments simulated at realistic rates and schedules?
• Liquidation simulation. Are liquidations simulated with realistic adverse slippage and fees?
• Trade journal. Does the platform auto-log trades with R-multiples and breakdown analytics?
• Friction to get started. Email-only signup, KYC, time-limited demo, or worse?

Each platform's verdict is based on these criteria, not on opinion. We disclose where Hex37 competes directly and explain where competitors win on specific dimensions. Comparison content is updated when a competitor ships meaningful changes; the last-reviewed date on each comparison page is the source of truth for currency.

Disclosures and disclaimers

Educational sandbox. Hex37 is an educational trading sandbox. All balances, positions, and trades are simulated. Hex37 is not a broker, exchange, or financial adviser and does not provide investment advice. Past simulated performance does not predict future real-world results.

No referral compensation in comparison content. Where we reference competitor platforms by name in comparison and review articles, we do so without referral-link arrangements that could bias the evaluation. Where any commercial relationship exists with a referenced party, we disclose it in the relevant article.

Conflicts of interest. Hex37 is the product behind the editorial content on this site, so by definition the comparison content is written by people with a commercial interest in Hex37. We mitigate that by using explicit, public criteria (above), by disclosing where Hex37 competes, and by giving credit to competitors where they genuinely win. Readers should weight the comparisons accordingly.

Corrections and feedback

If you find a factual error in any Hex37 content, a misleading characterisation of a competitor, an outdated claim about a platform that has changed since publication, or a methodology question we have not answered here, write to [email protected]. We aim to acknowledge corrections within two business days and to publish updates within a week.