Paper profit isn't profit
Unrealized gains feel like money but can disappear on the next candle. Only realized PnL is truly yours. Plan what to lock in with the take-profit ladder.
Paper profits and real ones
Unrealized PnL is what your open position shows; realized PnL is what actually hit your balance after closing. The distinction sounds bureaucratic until you watch a +$4,000 unrealized gain become a β$500 realized loss because "it was going higher."
Partial closes split the difference β literally. Close half of a +20% position and you've realized half the gain; the rest keeps floating. This is the mechanical basis of every scale-out strategy: converting unrealized to realized in stages removes the all-or-nothing exit decision that emotions are worst at.
Accounting detail that trips people up: funding payments and fees on perpetuals are realized continuously, even while your directional PnL floats. A position can show +$200 unrealized while having already realized β$60 in funding β the dashboard number and your actual account delta disagree until you add both lines. Exchanges display this differently, which is why cross-exchange PnL comparisons so often confuse.