Bitcoin Funding Rate

How funding works

Perpetual futures never expire, so exchanges use a funding payment to keep their price close to the spot price. Every funding interval (8 hours for BTC-USDT on OKX) one side pays the other: when the rate is positive, longs pay shorts; when it is negative, shorts pay longs.

The rate is set by the gap between the perpetual and spot prices plus a small interest component. Many exchanges treat about +0.01% per 8 hours as the neutral baseline, which works out to roughly 11% a year.

How to read it

Persistently high positive funding means traders are paying up to hold leveraged longs — a sign of crowded, optimistic positioning. Negative funding means shorts are paying, which often happens after sharp sell-offs or when bearish bets pile up.

Extremes on either side show where leverage is concentrated, which is why funding is watched around large liquidation events. On its own it does not tell you where price goes next. Rates differ slightly between exchanges; this page uses OKX settlements.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Bitcoin funding rate today?

The latest settled BTC perpetual funding rate is shown at the top of this page, refreshed daily from OKX's public funding history.

What does a positive funding rate mean?

Positive funding means traders holding long perpetual positions pay those holding shorts. It usually indicates that demand for leveraged long exposure is higher than for shorts.

What does a negative funding rate mean?

Negative funding means shorts pay longs, typically when bearish positioning dominates or the perpetual trades below spot.

How is the annualized funding rate calculated?

The 8-hour rate is multiplied by three settlements per day and 365 days. It is a simple, non-compounded approximation of the yearly cost of holding the position.