Updated Rules checked 2026-10-12
The funding rate is a fee that longs and shorts on perpetual futures pay each other at regular intervals to keep the contract price close to spot. When the rate is positive, longs pay shorts; when it is negative, shorts pay longs. The exchange does not keep this money. At each settlement time it simply takes it from one side and passes it to the other.
The calculation is “position value × funding rate”, and leverage and margin play no part in it. The official help pages of Binance, OKX, Bybit and most other exchanges say funding is settled every 8 hours by default. But when I read each exchange’s official API on 2026-10-12, 80% of Binance’s USDT perpetual contracts settled every 4 hours, most other exchanges had 40% to 60% on 4 hours, and when the rate hits its cap the interval can switch to every 1 hour.
Before you compare funding rates, put them on the same time basis. 0.01% every 8 hours equals 0.03% a day, about 0.9% a month and 10.95% a year, all of position value. At 10x leverage, that eats about 9% of your margin a month, far more than the trading fees for one entry and one exit.
Key points: when the funding rate is positive, longs pay shorts; when it is negative, shorts pay longs. Binance, OKX, Bybit and most other exchanges state that they take no cut. The funding fee equals position value times the funding rate, and you only pay or receive it if you still hold the position at settlement time. 0.01% every 8 hours works out to 10.95% of position value a year; the same 0.01% settled every 4 hours is 21.9% a year. On 2026-10-12 I read Binance’s official API: 418 of its 525 live USDT perpetual contracts (80%) settled every 4 hours, not the default 8 hours stated on its help page. The rules of Binance, OKX, Bybit and Gate state that when the rate hits its upper or lower limit, the settlement interval shortens automatically, down to as little as every 1 hour. A referral code rebate only refunds trading fees. Funding fees go to the other side of the trade, so they generate no rebate.
The information below was checked against official pages on 2026-10-12 (data check date) and is provided for reference.
Who pays whom, and what do positive and negative rates mean?
Perpetual futures have no expiry date, so the contract price can stay above or below spot for a long time. The funding rate is the mechanism that pulls the two together. When the contract trades above spot, the rate is usually positive: longs pay shorts, and holding a long costs more. When the contract trades below spot, the rate is usually negative, and shorts pay longs instead.
- The money goes to the other side, not the exchange: Binance states that it “does not charge fees on Funding Payments” (Binance funding rate guide, updated 2026-03-06). OKX states that funding fees are settled directly between longs and shorts, and the platform neither collects nor keeps them (OKX perpetual funding fee rules, updated 2026-08-27).
- Only the moment of settlement counts: close before settlement and you pay nothing; open after settlement and you pay nothing either. Pionex states that system processing may be off by up to 1 minute either way (Pionex funding fee guide). Ourbit says orders placed within 15 seconds before or after settlement may be included (Ourbit funding rate mechanism).
- Where it is deducted from: usually from the available balance of your futures account. If that is not enough, it comes out of the position margin, and your liquidation price moves closer (HTX funding fee guide).
Whether the rate is positive or negative can change every period. When I read each exchange’s API at 18:10 (UTC) on 2026-10-12, the current BTCUSDT rate ranged from −0.0039% (Bybit) to +0.0075% (XT). For the same coin, longs may be paying on one exchange and getting paid on another.
How is the funding rate calculated? Binance as an example
What you pay comes down to one formula: funding fee = position value × funding rate, with position value based on the mark price at settlement. As for where the funding rate itself comes from, Binance publishes this formula (Binance funding rate guide):
- Funding rate F = [average premium index P + clamp(interest rate − P, 0.05%, −0.05%)] ÷ (8 ÷ N), where N is the funding interval in hours.
- Premium index: calculated from the gap between the impact bid and ask prices and the index price. It is positive when the contract trades above spot.
- Interest rate: 0.03% a day by default, or 0.01% per 8 hours.
- clamp: keeps “interest rate − premium index” within ±0.05%. When the premium index is between −0.04% and 0.06%, the result is exactly 0.01%, which is why you often see a flat 0.01% when the market is calm.
- Upper and lower limits: ±0.75 × maintenance margin rate for major contracts, and ±2% for other USDⓈ-M perpetual contracts. The API on 2026-10-12 showed ±0.3% for BTCUSDT.
Example: the BTC mark price is 80,000 USDT and you hold a 0.125 BTC long, so your position value is 80,000 × 0.125 = 10,000 USDT. If this period’s funding rate is +0.01%, you pay 10,000 × 0.01% = 1 USDT to shorts at settlement; at −0.01%, you receive 1 USDT. Whether you put up 1,000 USDT of margin (10x) or 5,000 USDT (2x), the payment is 1 USDT either way.
The “÷ (8 ÷ N)” at the end of the formula scales the rate to the interval. For a contract that settles every 4 hours, the baseline rate is 0.005%, not 0.01%; it settles 6 times a day, which still adds up to 0.03%. The formulas of OKX, Gate, KuCoin and HTX all include the same scaling. Bybit writes it differently, setting the interest rate directly as “0.03% ÷ (24 ÷ funding interval)”, with the same result (Bybit introduction to funding rate, updated 2026-06-05).
The exchanges differ mainly in the interest rate and the limits. BingX’s guide says the interest rate is 0 and the rate range is −0.3% to 0.3% (BingX perpetual futures fee schedule). XT’s formula is the average premium index plus clamp(interest rate − premium index, −0.05%, 0.05%), and its guide does not list the final limits (XT funding fee calculation). WEEX calculates the interest rate by subtracting the borrowing rate index of the base currency from that of the quote currency (WEEX funding fee guide).
How often do 13 exchanges charge funding, and what are the caps?
The table below shows each exchange’s default interval for USDT perpetual contracts, whether it shortens automatically, and how the limits are set. “BTC cap” is the BTCUSDT value read from the official API or help page on 2026-10-12. Caps for other coins are mostly wider.
| Exchange | Official default interval | Does the interval change? | Limit rule | BTC cap | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | 8 hours (some 4 hours) | Yes: switches to every 1 hour when the limit is hit; back to 4 hours after 16 consecutive periods with an absolute value ≤ 0.025% | ±0.75 × maintenance margin rate for major contracts, ±2% for others | ±0.3% | Guide |
| OKX | 8 hours (some 1, 2 or 4 hours) | Yes: drops one step when the limit is hit (8→4→2→1); moves back only if the rate stayed within ±0.20% over the past 12 hours | Set per contract | ±0.375% | Guide |
| Bybit | Depends on the pair | Yes: switches to hourly when the limit is hit | ±min((initial margin rate − maintenance margin rate) × 0.75, maintenance margin rate) | ±0.333% | Guide |
| Bitget | 8 hours (some 2 or 4 hours) | Yes: changed per contract by announcement | ±0.75 × maintenance margin rate (adjustable within 0.01–2) | ±0.3% | Guide |
| MEXC | 8 hours (per contract) | Yes: changed per contract by announcement | Rule not stated on the help page | ±0.18% | Guide |
| Gate | 8 or 4 hours | Yes: switches to 1 hour when the limit is hit; back to 4 hours after 16 consecutive periods with an absolute value < 0.025% | Set per contract, adjusted periodically | ±0.3% | Guide |
| BingX | 8 hours | Yes: changed per contract by announcement, with later changes not announced separately | Help page says ±0.3% | ±0.3% | Guide |
| KuCoin | 8 hours for major pairs, 4 hours for most others | Yes: may switch temporarily to 1 hour when the premium or discount is large | Set per contract | ±0.3% | Guide |
| HTX | 8, 4 or 1 hour (per pair) | Yes: states that the settlement interval is adjusted dynamically | Set per contract | ±0.375% | Guide |
| XT | 8 hours | Yes: changed per contract by announcement | Not stated officially | Not stated officially | Guide |
| WEEX | 8 hours (times vary by pair) | Not stated officially | The formula has limits; values not stated officially | Not stated officially | Guide |
| Pionex | 8 hours for major coins, 4 hours for high-volatility coins | Yes: may switch to every 1 hour in extreme markets | Not stated officially | Not stated officially | Guide |
| Ourbit | 8 hours | Reserves the right to adjust in extreme markets | Rule not stated on the help page | ±0.2% | Guide |
Where the BTC caps come from: for Binance, Bybit, OKX, Bitget, MEXC, Gate, BingX, KuCoin and Ourbit, from each exchange’s official public API (read on 2026-10-12); for HTX, from its funding fee guide. Two things to note. BingX’s help page says all perpetual contracts are ±0.3%, but the API shows ±0.3% for BTC-USDT and ±2% or ±0.5% for many small coins, so go by what the trading page shows. Examples of interval changes include Bitget GUSDT moving from 4 hours to 1 hour (limits ±2%), MEXC ONEUSDT moving to 4 hours (limits ±3%) and BingX ESPORTS moving to every 1 hour.
How many contracts actually settle every 4 hours?
Most exchanges’ guides say “8 hours by default”, so many people assume funding settles only 3 times a day. At 18:10 (UTC) on 2026-10-12, I read each exchange’s official public API and counted which interval the live USDT perpetual contracts use:
| Exchange | Contracts | 8 hours | 4 hours | 1 hour | Other | Share on 4 hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | 525 | 105 | 418 | 2 | — | 80% |
| KuCoin | 686 | 255 | 429 | 2 | — | 63% |
| Ourbit | 753 | 296 | 454 | 2 | 24 hours: 1 | 60% |
| XT | 713 | 321 | 391 | 1 | — | 55% |
| MEXC | 1,098 | 560 | 533 | 4 | 24 hours: 1 | 49% |
| Bybit | 795 | 414 | 379 | 2 | — | 48% |
| WEEX | 1,035 | 545 | 487 | 3 | — | 47% |
| Bitget | 839 | 451 | 387 | 1 | — | 46% |
| OKX | 485 | 271 | 213 | 0 | 2 hours: 1 | 44% |
| Gate | 1,038 | 622 | 412 | 4 | — | 40% |
| BingX | 1,197 | 703 | 479 | 15 | — | 40% |
| HTX | 382 | 273 | 96 | 13 | — | 25% |
The data comes from each exchange’s public contract specification or funding rate API (for example Binance fundingInfo, HTX contract info and Ourbit funding rate). The contract counts include non-crypto contracts such as stocks and commodities, and the numbers change every day. Pionex’s API has no interval field, so I inferred it from the next settlement time of 604 contracts: 217 on 8 hours, 354 on 4 hours (or shorter) and 33 on 1 hour.
The data shows that major contracts such as BTC and ETH are almost all on 8 hours, and most of the 4-hour contracts are small coins. Before you open a small-coin contract, check the countdown next to the funding rate on the trading page. If the countdown never goes above 4 hours, funding settles 6 times a day.
How to compare different intervals: daily, monthly and yearly figures
The trading page shows the rate “per period”, so rates with different intervals cannot be compared directly. The table below assumes the rate stays the same every period and shows the funding fees accumulated by holding for one day, 30 days and 365 days, all as a percentage of position value:
| Rate per period | Interval | Times per day | One day | 30 days | 365 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.01% | 8 hours | 3 | 0.03% | 0.9% | 10.95% |
| 0.005% | 4 hours | 6 | 0.03% | 0.9% | 10.95% |
| 0.01% | 4 hours | 6 | 0.06% | 1.8% | 21.9% |
| 0.01% | 1 hour | 24 | 0.24% | 7.2% | 87.6% |
| 0.05% | 8 hours | 3 | 0.15% | 4.5% | 54.75% |
| 0.05% | 4 hours | 6 | 0.3% | 9% | 109.5% |
| 0.05% | 1 hour | 24 | 1.2% | 36% | 438% |
How to convert: one day = rate per period × (24 ÷ interval in hours); multiply by 30 for 30 days and by 365 for 365 days. The first two rows show why the conversion matters: a 4-hour contract showing 0.005% looks like half of an 8-hour contract, yet it costs the same per day. The reverse also holds: with the same 0.01% on screen, a 4-hour contract costs twice as much per day as an 8-hour one.
The limits need converting too. The cap for Binance small-coin contracts is 2% per period, and once it is hit, settlement switches to every 1 hour. If the rate stays at the cap for several periods in a row, that is 2% × 24 = 48% of position value in a day. This is the maximum the rules allow and it does not happen normally, but in extreme markets funding fees really can eat most of your margin within a day.
Holding for a day, a week or a month: which costs more, funding or trading fees?
Take Binance USDⓈ-M futures: 1,000 USDT of margin at 10x gives a position value of 10,000 USDT. At VIP 0, futures fees are Maker 0.02% and Taker 0.05% (Binance futures trading fee guide, updated 2026-05-01). Opening and closing with market orders costs 10,000 × 0.05% × 2 = 10 USDT in fees, or 1% of margin. Assume the funding rate is +0.01% or +0.05% every 8 hours and you hold a long:
| Holding time | Settlements | Funding (0.01%) | Funding (0.05%) | Round-trip Taker fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 day | 3 | 3 USDT | 15 USDT | 10 USDT |
| 1 week | 21 | 21 USDT | 105 USDT | 10 USDT |
| 30 days | 90 | 90 USDT (9% of margin) | 450 USDT (45% of margin) | 10 USDT (1% of margin) |
The math: each settlement is 10,000 × 0.01% = 1 USDT, so 3 USDT a day at 3 settlements, 21 USDT a week and 90 USDT over 30 days. If the rate stays at 0.01%, the accumulated funding (12 USDT) passes the round-trip fees on day 4; at 0.05%, it passes them in less than a day. Trading fees are paid once on opening and once on closing, no matter how long you hold. Funding is paid every period, so the longer you hold, the more it adds up.
Funding fees go to the other side of the trade, so a referral code rebate can only lower the rightmost column of the table. Binance calculates referral rebates on net fees; the calculation below shows fees after the rebate, and 20,000 USDT is the trading volume of opening and closing one 10,000 USDT position.
| Monthly volume | Fees (0.05%) | Auto rebate (20%) | Net fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20,000 USDT | 10 USDT | 2 USDT | 8 USDT |
| 100,000 USDT | 50 USDT | 10 USDT | 40 USDT |
| 1,000,000 USDT | 500 USDT | 100 USDT | 400 USDT |
Example at a futures fee rate of 0.05% and the current 20% automatic rebate (rate updated 2026-10-23). Your exchange statement prevails.
For a Binance account registered with a referral code, the exchange refunds 20% of your futures trading fees. In the example above, the rebate only affects the 10 USDT of trading fees; the 3, 21 and 90 USDT of funding fees do not get any smaller.
The same goes for other exchanges. Signing up for Bybit with a referral code gets you no rebate from the exchange; to get a rebate you go through a rebate site such as Fee Otter. The extra rebate is paid by Fee Otter, not by the exchange and not by Kevin Wu, and it is calculated only on the trading fees you actually pay, not on funding fees (for the steps, see how to get a Bybit fee rebate). The fee discount from a Pionex referral code likewise covers only trading fees. For each exchange’s fees after rebates, see actual trading fees after referral code rebates; to work out trading fees and funding together, use the perpetual futures cost calculator. With leveraged trading, an adverse price move can get you liquidated and lose your entire margin, and when funding fees are deducted from margin, your liquidation price also moves closer.
What does funding rate arbitrage cost?
The usual funding rate arbitrage is “buy spot and open an equal perpetual short at the same time”. Price moves on the two sides cancel out, and when the rate is positive the short collects funding. You collect funding, but getting in and out first costs four trading fees. Using Binance VIP 0 and 10,000 USDT on each side:
| Step | Fee rate | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Buy spot | 0.1% | 10 USDT |
| Open perpetual short (market) | 0.05% | 5 USDT |
| Close perpetual short (market) | 0.05% | 5 USDT |
| Sell spot | 0.1% | 10 USDT |
| Total | — | 30 USDT (0.3%) |
The spot fee comes from the Binance spot fee page (0.1% at VIP 0). If the rate stays at +0.01% every 8 hours, the short collects 3 USDT a day and needs 10 days to earn back the 30 USDT in fees; placing Maker orders on both futures legs brings it to 24 USDT, which still takes 8 days. Ourbit currently charges no spot trading fees (with no rebate), but if spot and futures sit on different exchanges, you add transfer and withdrawal costs; see the USDT withdrawal fee comparison.
- The rate can turn negative: when it does, the short pays instead. In the 2026-10-12 BTCUSDT rates above, Bybit and Gate were negative.
- The interval can change: the same contract may move from 8 hours to 4 hours or 1 hour. When you hedge across exchanges with different intervals, the settlement times do not line up, and during some periods only one side is paying.
- The short can be liquidated: the spot sits in the spot account and the short’s margin in the futures account. In a sharp rally the short may be liquidated first, and the hedge breaks.
- Entry and exit spread: the contract may trade above spot when you open and the gap may narrow or flip when you close, so the gain or loss on the spread has to be counted too.
Funding rates float, and past rates do not indicate future returns. The full method for futures trading fees is in how futures trading fees are calculated; for the fee difference between limit and market orders, see Maker vs Taker fees.
Where can you check current funding rates?
Every exchange’s futures trading page shows the current funding rate and a countdown to the next settlement next to the price, and that is the most accurate source. To see all coins or historical rates at once, use these official pages:
- Binance: the real-time funding rate page, with history on the same page.
- OKX: the perpetual swap funding rate page.
- Bybit: the funding rate page.
- Gate: the funding rate history page.
- MEXC: the funding rate history page, where you can switch contracts.
- XT: the funding rate page.
- Pionex: the funding rate market page.
- Ourbit: futures trading page → “Contract Info” → “Funding Fee History”.
- WEEX: funding fees you have paid are under “Assets → Futures Bills → Funding Fee”.
- Bitget, KuCoin, BingX, HTX: the funding rate field and countdown at the top of the futures trading page.
When you check the rate, check the countdown too: a countdown above 4 hours means an 8-hour contract, one that never goes above 4 hours may be a 4-hour contract, and one that never goes above 1 hour means hourly settlement. The countdown tells you the interval more reliably than the “8 hours by default” on a help page.
FAQ
What does funding rate mean?
The funding rate is the rate at which longs and shorts on perpetual futures pay each other at regular intervals to keep the contract price close to spot. The exchange does not keep this money; at each settlement time it only takes it from the payer and passes it to the receiver. Delivery futures have no funding rate.
If the funding rate is positive, do longs pay?
Yes. When the funding rate is positive, longs pay shorts; when it is negative, shorts pay longs. The official guides of all 13 exchanges work this way. The sign can change every period, and the same coin can be positive on one exchange and negative on another.
How often is funding charged?
The official default is mostly every 8 hours, at 08:00, 16:00 and 00:00 Taiwan time (UTC+8), but many small coins settle every 4 hours. On 2026-10-12 the official APIs showed 80% of Binance’s USDT perpetual contracts on 4 hours, with most other exchanges between 40% and 63% (HTX at 25%). When the rate hits its limit, Binance, OKX, Bybit and Gate automatically shorten the interval, down to as little as every 1 hour.
How is the funding rate calculated? Is there a calculator?
Funding fee = position value × funding rate, with position value based on the mark price and unrelated to leverage. A 10,000 USDT position at 0.01% pays or receives 1 USDT each time. To work out trading fees, rebates and funding together, use the perpetual futures cost calculator, and remember to convert rates to the same interval first.
What is the Binance funding rate cap?
For Binance’s major contracts the cap is ±0.75 × maintenance margin rate; for BTCUSDT on 2026-10-12 it was ±0.3%. Other USDⓈ-M perpetual contracts are capped at ±2%. After a settlement that hits the limit, the interval switches to every 1 hour, and it only goes back to 4 hours after 16 consecutive settlements with an absolute rate of no more than 0.025%.
Do I still pay funding if I close before settlement?
No. Only people still holding a position at settlement time pay or receive funding. System processing does have some leeway, though: Pionex states 1 minute either way, and Ourbit states that orders within 15 seconds before or after may be included. If you want to avoid it, close a few minutes early.
Do funding fees earn a rebate?
No. A referral code rebate is calculated on the trading fees the exchange charges. Funding fees go to the other side of the trade and never pass through the exchange’s fee revenue, so they generate no rebate. The longer you hold, the bigger the share of funding in your total cost, and the smaller the share a rebate can save.
Is funding rate arbitrage a sure profit?
No. A spot-plus-short arbitrage on Binance at VIP 0 first costs about 0.3% in four trading fees, and even with the rate holding at 0.01% every 8 hours it takes 10 days to break even. A negative rate, a changed interval, a liquidated short or a shift in the spread can all turn the result into a loss.
Why is funding suddenly charged every hour?
Usually because the rate hit its limit and the exchange shortened that contract’s settlement interval. Binance, Bybit and Gate switch straight to every 1 hour, while OKX drops one step at a time (8→4→2→1 hours). Pionex and KuCoin also state that they may switch to hourly temporarily when the market is very volatile.
To learn more about futures costs, see how futures trading fees are calculated, Maker vs Taker fees, the liquidation price calculator and the lowest-fee exchanges. Fee details for each exchange are in the fee guides for Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget and others. For rebate rules, see the referral rebate glossary, and for other exchanges’ referral codes, see crypto exchange referral codes.