Funding

A perpetual has no expiry, so nothing forces the market price back to the index. Funding does that job: the side that is crowding the trade pays the other side, every hour, in proportion to how far the mark has drifted.

Who pays whom#

The rate#

Both prices are averaged across the interval, so a single tick cannot set the rate. A positive rate means the mark traded above the index on average and longs pay; negative means shorts pay.

The payment#

• Settles every 1 hour, on the hour. The header shows the countdown.
• Payment is notional × rate, taken from or added to the position's isolated margin. A position that pays funding for long enough moves closer to its liquidation price.
• Every payment is listed in the Funding tab and on the portfolio page.

Predicted and applied#

The header shows the last applied rate and, underneath, the rate predicted from the running premium of the current interval. The market page keeps an hourly history so you can see whether a premium is a moment or a regime.

Funding as a signal#

On an ordinary perpetual, funding is a cost. Here it is a poll. When the crowd is paying 0.3% an hour to stay short a trader, that number is the market's opinion of him, published, and it is content. Every market's rate is public on its page and on the traders list.