Funding Rate
Fee exchanged between longs and shorts on perpetual futures.
Funding Rate: keeps perp price near spot. Positive = longs pay shorts (bullish dominant, watch for short squeeze). Negative = shorts pay longs. Extreme values (>0.1%/8h) = overcrowded, often violently reverse.
In plain words
On perpetual contracts, longs and shorts swap a fee every few hours to keep the contract price near spot. Positive funding: longs pay shorts (bulls dominant). Extreme values mean too many on one side. Often reverses violently.
Example
Mar 2024 BTC ATH 73k: FR 0.15%/8h extremely positive → -20% in 4 weeks. Nov 2022 BTC 16k: FR -0.05% → +30% in month. FR >0.1% predicts drops 70% of the time.
Also known as: funding rate, perp funding