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Funding Rate: how to read it

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Funding is the payment that longs and shorts make to each other on perpetual futures, at fixed times.When the rate is positive, longs pay shorts. When it is negative, shorts pay longs.

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BTCUSDT1hAggregated Funding
BTCUSDT 1-hour chart with the Aggregated Funding pane under the price candles: positive funding bars above the zero line, negative bars below it, and the latest rate with its countdown
BTCUSDT, funding rate and countdown ยท Example view

How to read it

BTCUSDT1hAggregated Funding
BTCUSDT 1-hour chart with the Aggregated Funding pane under the price candles: positive funding bars above the zero line, negative bars below it, and the latest rate with its countdown
AZero lineBPositive funding (longs pay)CNegative funding (shorts pay)DTop bar: rate and countdown

  1. Read the sign and the colour

    In the top bar the rate is green when positive and red when negative.

  2. Check the countdown

    The timer next to the rate shows the time left to the next payment. The payment interval differs by exchange and coin.

  3. See the whole market

    The watchlist shows one funding value for each coin, weighted by open interest across exchanges, so an exchange with more open interest counts more.

  4. Read it with price and open interest

    A funding rate alone is one number. Next to price and open interest it shows which side is paying to stay in, and how much money is in play.

Worked example

Example numbers, rounded

BTC funding has been positive for days. Then it turns negative for three payments in a row while open interest stays high. For those three payments shorts paid longs to keep their positions open. Then funding goes back above zero. The rate records what traders paid; price direction is a separate question.

Common mistakes

  • Reading funding as a forecast. It is the cost of holding a position, not a prediction.
  • Comparing rates with different intervals. Check the countdown and the exchange first.
  • Looking at one exchange. Rates differ from exchange to exchange.
  • Ignoring size. A rate matters more when open interest is large.

Where the data comes from

  • Collected every minute for 500+ perpetual coins on 10 exchanges: Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, Hyperliquid, Gate, MEXC, KuCoin, BingX and WhiteBIT.
  • The rate shown is the rate for one payment period. Payment intervals differ by exchange and coin.
  • The watchlist value is weighted by open interest.

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