KARDGuide · Last updated: October 13, 2026
What is the funding rate?
The funding rate is a periodic payment exchanged between long and short holders of perpetual futures contracts. When it is positive, longs pay shorts; when it is negative, shorts pay longs. Its purpose is to keep the contract price close to the spot price.
Why does it exist?
A perpetual contract has no expiry date. To stop its price drifting far from spot, the exchange uses a periodic payment between the two sides. When the contract trades above spot (longs dominate), funding is usually positive and longs pay; when it trades below, funding is negative and shorts pay.
How is it calculated and when is it paid?
On most Binance USDⓈ-M contracts the payment happens every 8 hours (00:00, 08:00, 16:00 UTC); some contracts use shorter intervals. The amount is the position's notional size multiplied by the funding rate. If you hold a position at the funding time you pay or receive; it is not an exchange commission, it moves between traders.
How should it be read?
High positive funding suggests the long side is crowded and expensive; high negative funding suggests the short side is crowded. It is not a direction forecast on its own: a crowded side is more likely to struggle if price moves against it, but the trigger may never come. KARDVANE reads funding not as an absolute number but as a percentile (p) of the coin's own last 6 months.
Example
With a 10,000 USDT long and funding at +0.01% you pay 1 USDT every 8 hours; three payments a day is 3 USDT. Annualised that is roughly 11% (0.01 × 3 × 365). If you hold the position for days, the cost adds up.
Where do you see it in KARDVANE?
On every coin page you can see the current funding, its 72-hour average and its percentile versus the last 6 months (p0: most short, p100: most long).
Go to the related pageOpen the Pro terminal
FAQ
What does a positive funding rate mean?
Long holders are paying short holders, which usually indicates that the long side is dominant.
Is the funding rate a trading fee?
No. It is separate from the exchange commission; funding is paid between traders.
Does high funding mean price will fall?
Not necessarily. High funding shows crowding; it does not tell you when or in which direction price will move.
Related guides
This page is educational; it is not investment advice.