How to Compare Funding Rates Across Exchanges

Compare funding across exchanges only after checking settlement intervals, payment direction and contract type. The difference between two displayed rates is not income by itself: the positions may have different prices, and opening and closing both sides creates costs.

Funding is a periodic payment between the sides of a perpetual contract. With a positive rate, longs pay shorts; a negative rate reverses the payment. For a linear contract, the cash payment depends on position notional. The exchange defines the calculation and timing: check your contract’s terms on the exchange.

If one rate settles hourly and another every eight hours, comparing percentages alone is misleading. Converting to a common period assumes rates and notionals stay unchanged. Actual results require actual settlements.

The same coin name also does not guarantee the same exposure. Check contract multiplier, settlement currency and base-asset quantity on each side.

Specify the notional, rate and settlement period on each side. Bring rates to the same period, then subtract fees and assess basis changes. The calculation inputs do not fix future market values.

Compare the same period

1. Enter a rate of 0.01% per hour and a rate of 0.04% per eight hours. If unchanged, the first is equivalent to 0.08% over eight hours; the second remains 0.04%.
2. For a 10,000 USDT notional on each side, the eight-hour payment difference is 4 USDT before costs. This is the arithmetic of the stated inputs, not a market return.
3. If each of the four opening and closing executions costs 0.05%, total fees are 20 USDT. At an unchanged rate difference, five eight-hour periods cover those fees alone.
4. Basis changes, slippage, execution and rate changes remain separate. A current rate does not lock in future funding.

Check current rates and intervals, then enter your costs in the spread calculator. Do not compare rates with unknown intervals directly.

To receive the positive difference at these positive rates, a short at 0.01% per hour receives 8 USDT over eight hours, while a long at 0.04% per eight hours pays 4 USDT. All payments assume unchanged rates and positions held at settlement.

Include the change in the price difference between the two contracts, or cross-venue basis. With equal base-asset quantities, the combined price result depends on how that difference changes between entry and exit. It can outweigh funding received. Equal dollar notionals at different prices can also create different asset quantities.

One side may fill before the other or not fill at all. Each venue has its own margin requirements and liquidation risk. This setup is not risk-free.

Let the screener find gaps; keep the calculation in your hands

Use the funding-arbitrage screener when you want to examine rate differences across venues. Its role in your routine is to surface comparisons worth checking, saving you from inspecting every contract manually.

• Set rate-difference discovery conditions in the screener form.
• For a detected event, verify contracts, rates and settlement intervals. Bring the calculation to a common period.
• Fill in the cost checklist below and compare the cash difference with fees, spread and basis risk.

In the calculation above, the 4 USDT difference over eight hours does not cover 20 USDT of entry and exit fees. A notification is useful as the start of this calculation, not a finished decision to open both positions.

Create an account and assess the first detected gaps on paper before testing the structure with money.

Your calculation card should include:

• Contracts, settlement currency, multipliers and actual asset quantities.
• Next settlement times and the rate sign on each side.
• All entry and exit fees, spread and possible slippage.
• Basis-change risk and a plan for incomplete execution.
• Margin on each side and conditions for reassessing the position.

For one payment calculation, read the holding-cost article. Do not transfer its hypothetical rates into a live trade.