The funding screener: what it catches and what the alert says
Once a minute the funding screener checks the funding rate on the futures pairs of the exchanges you ticked, and sends an alert when the rate crosses your threshold, flips sign, or diverges between venues. No need to pick a coin: it sweeps the whole market.
What the rate is and why it exists at all is covered in “What the funding rate is”. This page is about how the screener reads it, why the alert arrives once rather than every minute, and what exactly the message contains.
In short
- Four scenarios, each switched on separately and with its own threshold: high positive rate, high negative rate, sign flip, and a gap between exchanges.
- The alert arrives at the moment the threshold is crossed. While the rate stays on that side, no further alert follows.
- Futures only, and only on the exchanges you ticked in general settings. No need to pick a coin.
- Rates with different settlement intervals are converted to an 8-hour basis — but only where they are compared with each other.
What the screener catches: four scenarios
The scenarios are independent: switch on one or all four, each with its own threshold. With no scenario switched on the screener never fires, even while its own toggle sits in the on position.
| Scenario | Default threshold | When the alert arrives |
|---|---|---|
| High positive funding | 0.05% | The rate reached the threshold or went above it while the previous minute was below. Longs pay. |
| High negative funding | 0.05% | The rate reached minus the threshold or went below it while the previous minute was above. Shorts pay. |
| Sign flip | 0.002% (floor) | The rate crossed zero and the paying side swapped. Your own threshold can only sit above the floor. |
| Gap between exchanges | 0.04% | The distance between the highest and the lowest converted rate on the pair reached the threshold. |
The negative threshold is entered as a positive number: 0.05 fires at −0.05% and below. The sign flip carries a built-in floor of 0.002% of the converted rate: below that the sign of a near-zero rate wobbles almost every minute, and that is noise rather than a change of mood.
Why the same rate means different things on two exchanges
An exchange shows the rate for its own settlement interval, and eight hours stopped being the universal rule long ago: many pairs settle every four hours, and some venues settle every hour.
| Settlement interval | Rate on the exchange | Converted to 8 hours |
|---|---|---|
| 8 hours | 0.01% | 0.01% |
| 4 hours | 0.005% | 0.01% |
| 1 hour | 0.00125% | 0.01% |
What gets converted to eight hours
The cross-exchange gap and the annualised figure are computed from converted rates. Otherwise a venue that settles hourly would almost always end up as the lowest-rate side — not because it is cheaper, but because its number is smaller by construction.And what does not
Your absolute thresholds — high positive and high negative — are compared with the raw rate of the venue, the one shown in its own interface. That is a deliberate decision: converting would silently shift the firing point for everyone who has already dialled in their numbers. The hint in the form says so outright.The annualised rate in the alert
0.05% per settlement reads differently from “about 55% a year”, even though it is the same number. The screener prints the conversion: the converted rate multiplied by the number of settlements in a year. It puts the current value on a familiar scale, and it is neither a forecast nor a return.Where to see this for yourself
How pairs are distributed across intervals, and the settlement grid of each venue, is on the funding intervals page. The pairs with the largest absolute rate right now are on the funding extremes page.
What the alert contains
The message is assembled from blocks, and it carries exactly what the screener measured:
- the pair, and how many alerts it has already produced over your chosen period;
- the cross-exchange line, if that scenario fired: the size of the gap and the converted rates of both venues;
- for every venue that fired: a link to it, the current rate, the annualised rate, a mark for the scenario, and the previous rate;
- the 24-hour price range: high, current, and low;
- the long/short ratio with its source named — when a fresh snapshot exists for the pair: the source covers the highest-turnover pairs of the reference venues, so the line is not always there;
- coin tags plus chart and exchange links — the ones you picked in general settings.
An illustrative example
The high positive funding scenario is on with a 0.05% threshold, and the filters are open interest from $10m and turnover from $50m. On a pair that settles every eight hours the rate hovered around 0.03%, and at 14:32 it reached 0.052% (0.047% a minute earlier). One alert arrives: the venue, the rate of 0.052%, an annualised figure of about 57%, the previous rate of 0.047%, and the 24-hour price range. While the rate stays above 0.05% no further alerts follow on that pair; the next one comes only if the rate drops below the threshold and crosses it again.How the screener helps
The rate moves every minute on every futures pair of every venue — you cannot sweep that by eye. The funding screener checks the rate on the futures exchanges you ticked and sends an alert when it crosses your threshold, flips sign, or diverges between venues. The message carries the current and previous rate, the annualised figure, and the 24-hour price range.
Why you get too many alerts, or too few
Both complaints come from the same design: the screener reports a crossing, and the threshold is yours to set.
Nothing arrived all day
Check in order: is at least one scenario on; is the threshold higher than the rate ever reaches on your pairs; are futures exchanges ticked in general settings; do the open interest and turnover filters cut out nearly the whole market; is the per-coin alert cap for the period already spent.One alert for a long-running imbalance
That is by design. The event is the crossing of the threshold, not sitting beyond it. An imbalance that lasts a day is one event, not 1,440. If you need the state rather than the moment, read the rate on the funding extremes page.Alerts come too often
There are three usual causes. The threshold sits right next to the level the rate normally lives at, so it crosses back and forth. Thin contracts, where a handful of positions move the rate. And one coin on several exchanges — the rate is computed on each venue separately, so there can be several crossings.How to fix it
With the open interest and turnover filters (set in millions of dollars, they cut out thin contracts), with the per-coin alert cap for the period, and with the favourites and blocked-coin lists. Every form field is explained in “Funding screener settings”.What the screener does not do — and which screener does it instead
Funding describes which side pays for its position and how much. Everything else is measured by the neighbouring screeners.
| Screener | What it catches |
|---|---|
| Funding screener | The level of the rate on each venue: threshold crossings, sign flips, and gaps between exchanges. |
| Funding arbitrage | Only the gap between two venues on one pair, with a threshold in basis points and a per-coin pause. |
| Open interest | Positions flowing in and out: how many contracts are open and how that changes. |
| Liquidations | Forced closes of positions and their cascades. |
It does not predict a reversal
An extreme rate describes an imbalance that exists now. It can hold for days and unwind without a sharp move. The alert says “one side is overpaying here”, not “this is where it turns down”.It does not count your costs
What you pay or receive depends on position size, fees, and how many settlements you sit through. The screener measures the rate, not the outcome.It does not see spot
Funding exists only on perpetual futures, so spot venues are left out of the calculation even when they are ticked in your general settings. The platform covers 9 futures venues in total.It does not measure the long/short skew itself
The ratio between the sides comes from a separate source and only for the highest-turnover pairs — which is why that line is not always in the alert. The rate itself says something about the skew indirectly: whoever pays is the crowded side.Funding screener FAQ
What does the funding screener show?
It watches the funding rate on the futures pairs of the exchanges you ticked and sends an alert when the rate crosses your threshold, crosses zero, or diverges between venues. No need to pick a coin: the screener sweeps the market for you.
Why did the high-funding alert arrive once while the rate stayed high all day?
The screener compares the current minute with the previous one and reports the crossing of a threshold, not the fact of sitting beyond it. While the rate stays above your threshold the event has already happened, and the next alert comes only after the rate falls back below the threshold and crosses it again.
Does the funding screener work on the spot market?
No. Funding is a payment between the two sides of a perpetual future, and it does not exist on spot. The screener counts only futures venues among the ones you enabled.
How do I set the negative funding threshold?
As a positive number: 0.05 fires at a rate of −0.05% or lower. There is no need to type a minus sign, and the negative scenario has its own switch.
Why can’t rates from two exchanges be compared directly?
An exchange shows the rate for its own settlement interval. 0.005% per four hours and 0.01% per eight hours are the same cost of holding, yet as numbers they differ twofold. That is why the screener computes the cross-exchange gap and the annualised figure from rates converted to an 8-hour basis.
What does the annualised rate in the alert mean?
It is the current rate converted to an 8-hour basis and multiplied by the number of settlements in a year. It puts fractions of a percent on a familiar scale: 0.05% per settlement is about 55% a year. It converts the current value, it does not forecast anything and it is not a return.
How is the funding screener different from the funding arbitrage screener?
The funding screener watches the level of the rate on each venue and reports threshold crossings; the cross-exchange gap is one of its four scenarios. The funding arbitrage screener deals only with the gap: its threshold is set in basis points, it fires again while the gap holds, and a per-coin pause keeps the frequency down.
Every form field and the ready-made presets are covered in “Funding screener settings”. Four worked situations with numbers are in “Funding use cases”. If the gap between exchanges is all you need, it has its own article: the funding arbitrage screener.
Other Knowledge Base Articles
Basic theory
About Our Screeners
Screener's settings
