What funding is
Perpetual futures never expire, so a funding payment keeps their price anchored to the underlying market. When the perp trades above the index, the funding rate is positive and longs pay shorts. When it trades below, the rate is negative and shorts pay longs.
- Funding is exchanged directly between traders. AtlasPerp does not take a fee on it.
- It is paid every 8 hours on most markets and every 4 hours on others. The countdown and the current rate are shown at the top of each market.
- Rates are capped per period, for example ±0.3% for BTC, so a single payment can never be extreme.
- You only pay or receive funding if you hold a position at the funding time.
Example
You are long 10,000 USDC of BTC and the funding rate is +0.01%.
At the funding time you pay 10,000 × 0.01% = 1 USDC to short holders.