· four exchange APIs · rebuilt daily
Cost of carry perpetual futures across five venues today
The finding
Holding a $100,000 long ETH position for 30 days costs between $373 and $1,010 across major venues today.
The total cost of carry perpetual futures traders face depends directly on exchange funding rates and trading fees.
Selecting an expensive venue adds 0.63% in net position decay over a single month.
Mechanics of perp position decay
Perpetual swaps do not expire. To keep the contract price aligned with the spot index, exchanges settle funding payments every 8 hours. When funding is positive, long position holders pay short position holders. When funding is negative, short position holders pay long position holders.
This periodic payment is the primary component of holding cost over extended timeframes. A trader who holds a contract for weeks incurs funding debits or credits three times daily. These payments directly alter the break-even price of the trade.
Trading fees form the second component of position carry costs. Taker fees apply when opening and closing positions with market orders. Over multi-week holding periods, funding rate variance usually exceeds the initial execution cost.
Worth knowing
Negative funding rates convert holding costs into positive cash flow for long traders.
How to measure cost of carry perpetual futures
Calculating total position drag requires adding round-trip execution fees to cumulative funding settlements over the expected holding duration.
Consider a $100,000 ETH long position opened with market orders and held for 30 days. A 30-day period contains 90 funding settlements of 8 hours each.
| Venue | 8h Funding Rate | 30d Funding Cost | Round-Trip Taker Fee | Total 30d Carry Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEXC | +0.0037% | $333.00 | $40.00 | $373.00 |
| Bitget | +0.0045% | $405.00 | $60.00 | $465.00 |
| OKX | +0.0044% | $396.00 | $100.00 | $496.00 |
| Bybit | +0.0100% | $900.00 | $110.00 | $1,010.00 |
On a $100,000 ETH position, holding on Bybit costs $637.00 more over 30 days than holding on MEXC. This difference equals 0.637% of the total position value.
Where this goes wrong
High funding yields often decay quickly as arbitrage traders rebalance positions across venues.
Live funding spreads across markets
Funding spreads vary dramatically depending on asset volatility and market direction. Current live data shows significant divergence across asset classes.
| Asset | Lowest Funding Venue | Highest Funding Venue | 8h Spread | 24h Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETH | MEXC (+0.0037%) | Bybit (+0.0100%) | 0.0063% | $7,921,834,741 |
| BTC | Bitget (+0.0070%) | Bybit (+0.0100%) | 0.0030% | $5,932,690,588 |
| ZEC | Bitget (-0.0436%) | Bybit (-0.0042%) | 0.0394% | $2,843,165,753 |
| SOL | Bitget (-0.0023%) | Bybit (+0.0100%) | 0.0123% | $921,977,828 |
| XAU | Bybit (+0.0042%) | OKX (+0.0298%) | 0.0256% | $695,990,571 |
| SNDK | Bybit (+0.0353%) | Bitget (+0.0602%) | 0.0249% | $677,162,717 |
Assets with heavy short interest, such as ZEC, exhibit negative funding across all venues. A trader holding a $100,000 ZEC long on Bitget earns $43.60 every 8 hours, totaling $3,924.00 over 30 days. Holding the same ZEC position on Bybit yields $378.00 over 30 days.
For gold contracts (XAU), OKX charges +0.0298% per 8 hours while Bybit charges +0.0042%. Over 30 days, holding a $100,000 XAU long costs $2,682.00 on OKX compared to $378.00 on Bybit.
What to do instead
Compare cumulative funding rates against fee discounts when holding positions longer than one week.
Taker fees and fee schedule impact
Execution fees affect the baseline cost of entering and exiting a position. While funding rates accrue over time, trading fees are charged immediately upon execution.
| Exchange | Futures Maker Fee | Futures Taker Fee | Round-Trip Taker Fee ($100k) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEXC | 0.0000% | 0.0002% | $40.00 |
| Bitget | 0.0002% | 0.0003% | $60.00 |
| OKX | 0.0002% | 0.0005% | $100.00 |
| Bybit | 0.0002% | 0.00055% | $110.00 |
MEXC charges zero maker fees and a 0.0002% taker fee, keeping entry costs low. Bybit charges a 0.00055% taker fee, making entry and exit nearly three times as expensive.
For swing trades lasting under 24 hours, execution fees account for most of the transaction expense. For positions held for multiple weeks, funding payments dominate the total carry cost.
How often are perpetual futures funding payments settled?
Perpetual futures funding payments settle every 8 hours on most major exchanges, resulting in 3 distinct payments per day. Some venues utilize 1-hour or continuous funding intervals during high volatility periods.
What is the cost of carry in perpetual futures trading?
The cost of carry in perpetual futures is the combined expense of exchange execution fees and ongoing 8-hour funding settlements over time. Depending on whether funding is positive or negative, this carry cost acts as either a continuous drag or a net credit on the position balance.
Which venue has the lowest cost of carry for long ETH perpetual positions today?
MEXC currently offers the lowest cost of carry for long ETH perpetual positions, with an 8-hour funding rate of +0.0037% and a round-trip taker fee of 0.0400%.
What happens to funding costs when market sentiment is heavily short?
When short interest dominates, funding rates turn negative, meaning short position holders pay funding to long position holders. Long traders receive cash credits every 8 hours instead of paying carry costs.