Encyclopedia DeFi · Entry 338
Perpetual funding payments: who pays whom, and on what amount?
In this article
At a glance
Key facts
| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Funding encourages the perpetual to trade near its reference price. | [1] |
| Direction | The rate’s sign determines which side pays under the stated convention. | [1] |
| Period | Rate displays can show hourly, eight-hour or annualized figures. | [1] |
Apply the rate to the right base
For a hypothetical 10,000 quote-unit position and a 0.01% rate for one payment period, the payment is 10,000 × 0.0001 = 1 quote unit. With 1,000 of margin, that is 0.1% of the margin for that period, despite the quoted funding rate being 0.01%.
This assumes a fixed notional for the calculation and excludes fees. It is not a current rate or a forecast.
Compare equivalent periods
An annualized display extrapolates a short-period observation; it does not lock that rate for a year. Rates can change sign, position values can change and protocol parameters can be governed. Record the rate period and the actual payments before comparing two markets.
An open position already has cash-flow history
Funding can increase or decrease realized P&L without closing the position. A profitable price move may be partly offset by payments. Conversely, receiving funding does not eliminate losses from the contract price or liquidation risk. Reconcile funding history separately from the gross price-change calculation.
Direct answers
Questions people ask
Is receiving funding a guaranteed yield strategy?
No. Funding can reverse, and price exposure, margin constraints and execution costs remain.
Inspect the evidence
The answer and key facts have stable claim links. These records retain the scope and qualification when reused.
Perpetual funding is a transfer tied to an open contract position and a periodic rate. In the cited dYdX design, positive funding generally means longs pay shorts and negative funding reverses that direction. The amount depends on the position’s notional and the applicable rate, not just the margin deposited.
Scope: DeFi · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T19:18:00.092Z.
Link to this claimPurpose: Funding encourages the perpetual to trade near its reference price.
Scope: DeFi · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T19:18:00.092Z.
Link to this claimDirection: The rate’s sign determines which side pays under the stated convention.
Scope: DeFi · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T19:18:00.092Z.
Link to this claimPeriod: Rate displays can show hourly, eight-hour or annualized figures.
Scope: DeFi · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T19:18:00.092Z.
Link to this claimRevision history
- — First publication after primary-source research and separate automated verification.
Source register
Sources and references
Retrieval dates and locators are recorded individually.- Default funding rates on dYdXdYdX Operations Services
Funding direction, position-sized transfers and governance-adjustable calculation.
Locator: Funding rates; premium; time intervals · Version / scope: Documentation retrieved for the 2026-10-02 editorial scope; content hash recorded · Retrieved: 2026-10-02T18:53:20.972ZOpen source - Liquidations on dYdX ChaindYdX Operations Services
Distinguishes eligibility, order execution and account losses.
Locator: Margin; fillable price; liquidation · Version / scope: Documentation retrieved for the 2026-10-02 editorial scope; content hash recorded · Retrieved: 2026-10-02T18:53:20.755ZOpen source
Research and drafting use AI assistance. A separate automated review checks claims against primary sources; no external expert or named human review is implied. Publication, substantive editing, source retrieval and verification are recorded separately. This version was independently checked by an automated reviewer on 2 October 2026.
Editorial method and correctionsDegrees of Satoshi editorial project. “Perpetual funding payments: who pays whom, and on what amount?.” Published 2026-10-02; updated 2026-10-02. https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/perpetual-funding-payments/