Crypto Perpetual Contracts | Fees & Funding Rates Comparison

Save Money With These Brokers:

BTCUSD Perpetual Contracts:

ETHUSD Perpetual Contracts:

Explanations:

dyn.calc. = dynamically calculated

*Funding Rates:

At most margin brokers there are additional Funding Rates getting applied when positions are being held over certain time intervals. In the case of crypto brokers this is typically every 8 hours or, as with PrimeXBT, it can be an overnight funding, hence every 24 hours.

Those rates are calculated dynamically for every new time interval. Traders can check the current funding rate in the trading area of the broker platform they use. Then they will know how much it would costs them to hold their position over the next timestamp. Depending on the rate it can make sense to close a position before the funding would occur – or, the other way round, it can make sense to leave it open in case you’re on the side of the premium.

The funding rate really only applies if a position is being held over the specific timestamp. Even if you opened your position one second before and closed it one second after, it will apply. On the other hand, you can hold a position for several hours without having to pay the funding rate as long as your are in between the specific hours when funding occurs.

Why Funding Rates at all?

This has to do with ensuring that the price on a trading platform keeps anchored to the global spot price. The idea of funding rates comes from traditional financial markets with margin trading, where such interest payments are exchanged periodically between long and short traders. Crypto markets mimic the traditional markets in that way.

So funding rates aren’t fees earned by the brokers – the platform owners only get the trading fees. Funding rates are paid 100% peer-to-peer, between traders, more specifically: long positions pay short positions or vice versa. So when you hold an open position over certain hours you either have to pay a funding rate or you get it, depending on the type of position you’re holding.

How Funding Rates are calculated:

This is the formula stated on BitMEX or Bybit:

Funding Rate (F) = Premium Index (P) + clamp(Interest Rate (I) - Premium Index (P), 0.05%, -0.05%)

Premium Index (P) = (Max(0, Impact Bid Price - Mark Price) - Max(0, Mark Price - Impact Ask Price)) / Spot Price + Fair Basis used in Mark Price

Interest Rate (I) = (Interest Quote Index - Interest Base Index) / Funding Interval
Interest Base Index = Interest Rate for borrowing the Base currency (such as BTC)
Interest Quote Index = Interest Rate for borrowing the Quote currency (such as USD)
Funding Interval = 3 (when funding occurs every 8 hours: 24:8=3)

Those parameters are explained in detail on this page.

Negative amounts:

In this case traders receive fees or funding, meaning they get a discount or earn a rebate on their trade.

(x leverage):

Be aware that maker and taker fees get multiplied by the amount of leverage being used.

Example: 50x leverage at a 0.075% taker fee would be: 0.075% x 50 = 3.75%

Funding hours:

Bybit: 08:00 UTC, 16:00 UTC, 00:00 UTC
PrimeXBT: 0:00 (of trader’s time)
BitMEX: 04:00 UTC, 12:00 UTC, 20:00 UTC
Monfex: 05:00 pm NYC time
BaseFEX: 02:00 UTC, 10:00 UTC, 18:00 UTC
Overbit: 01:00 UTC, 09:00 UTC, 17:00 UTC
Deribit: 08:00 UTC, 16:00 UTC, 00:00 UTC