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Understanding the cost of carry perpetual futures traders pay
The finding
The cost of carry perpetual futures positions require is dictated by funding rate spreads across platforms, which currently vary by up to 0.0141 percentage points per 8-hour interval on altcoins.
On a 100,000 USD long BTC trade held for 30 days, funding expenses range from 37.80 USD on OKX to 90.00 USD on Bybit.
Venue spreads often exceed taker execution fees within six days of holding a open position.
Funding rate dynamics and net positioning
Perpetual contracts lack an expiration date, so pricing relies on a funding payment mechanism to keep the contract price anchored to spot index pricing. When perpetual prices trade above spot, long position holders pay short position holders. When perpetual prices trade below spot, short position holders pay long position holders. Most exchanges calculate and settle this payment every eight hours, resulting in three funding cycles per 24-hour day.
Because funding is calculated against the total nominal position value rather than margin deposited, leverage amplifies the actual percentage cost on margin. A 0.0100% funding rate per 8-hour interval equals 0.0300% per day. For a position utilizing 10x leverage, this equates to a 0.3000% daily cost against initial margin equity.
Worth knowing
Funding payments are directly deducted from or added to collateral balance without executing an order book trade.
Venue comparison for perpetual contract holding costs
Funding rates differ across platforms due to localized order book imbalance and differing interest rate baseline algorithms. Below is live funding rate data per 8-hour interval across four major exchanges for six perpetual pairs.
| Asset | OKX | MEXC | Bitget | Bybit | 8-Hour Spread | Cheapest Venue (Long) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTC | +0.0042% | +0.0058% | +0.0063% | +0.0100% | 0.0058% | OKX |
| ETH | +0.0009% | +0.0011% | +0.0027% | +0.0027% | 0.0018% | OKX |
| ZEC | +0.0072% | +0.0083% | -0.0049% | +0.0028% | 0.0132% | Bitget |
| SOXL | +0.0027% | +0.0000% | +0.0141% | +0.0135% | 0.0141% | MEXC |
| SNDK | +0.0000% | N/A | +0.0123% | +0.0070% | 0.0123% | OKX |
| SOL | +0.0040% | +0.0064% | -0.0018% | +0.0024% | 0.0082% | Bitget |
For BTC, the spread between OKX (+0.0042%) and Bybit (+0.0100%) is 0.0058 percentage points per 8 hours. Holding a long position on Bybit costs more than double the funding fee on OKX. For altcoins like SOXL, the spread reaches 0.0141 percentage points per interval, moving from 0.0000% on MEXC to 0.0141% on Bitget.
Where this goes wrong
Negative funding rates mean short position holders pay long position holders. Holding a short position on ZEC at Bitget costs 0.0049% per 8 hours while earning funding on OKX.
Arithmetic of the cost of carry perpetual futures position
To understand how funding rate costs accumulate relative to execution fees, consider a concrete worked example. Assume opening a 100,000 USD nominal long position in BTC perpetual contracts and holding it for 30 calendar days (90 funding intervals).
On OKX:
- Taker fee to open (0.0005): 50.00 USD
- Taker fee to close (0.0005): 50.00 USD
- Funding rate per 8h: +0.0042% (4.20 USD per interval)
- 30-day funding total (90 intervals * 4.20 USD): 378.00 USD
- Total 30-day holding and execution cost: 478.00 USD
On Bybit:
- Taker fee to open (0.00055): 55.00 USD
- Taker fee to close (0.00055): 55.00 USD
- Funding rate per 8h: +0.0100% (10.00 USD per interval)
- 30-day funding total (90 intervals * 10.00 USD): 900.00 USD
- Total 30-day holding and execution cost: 1,010.00 USD
On MEXC:
- Taker fee to open (0.0002): 20.00 USD
- Taker fee to close (0.0002): 20.00 USD
- Funding rate per 8h: +0.0058% (5.80 USD per interval)
- 30-day funding total (90 intervals * 5.80 USD): 522.00 USD
- Total 30-day holding and execution cost: 562.00 USD
Fee schedules and trading fee structures vary across platforms:
| Venue | Futures Maker Fee | Futures Taker Fee | 30-Day Long BTC Funding (100k USD) | Total 30-Day Cost (Taker In/Out) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OKX | 0.0200% | 0.0500% | 378.00 USD | 478.00 USD |
| MEXC | 0.0000% | 0.0200% | 522.00 USD | 562.00 USD |
| Bitget | 0.0200% | 0.0300% | 567.00 USD | 627.00 USD |
| Bybit | 0.0200% | 0.0550% | 900.00 USD | 1,010.00 USD |
What to do instead
Evaluate both execution fees and holding rates based on planned trade duration. A low taker fee venue becomes more expensive if holding long positions beyond 12 days when funding rate spreads are wide.
Break-even horizon between execution fees and funding
Execution fees are paid twice: at entry and at exit. Funding is paid continuously every eight hours. For short holding periods, taker fees represent the primary transaction cost. As holding duration extends, funding becomes the dominant cost driver.
For a 100,000 USD long BTC trade on Bybit, round-trip taker fees total 110.00 USD. Funding payments accrue at 10.00 USD every eight hours. Taker fees are fully matched by funding costs after 11 funding periods (3.66 days).
For the same 100,000 USD long BTC trade on MEXC, round-trip taker fees total 40.00 USD. Funding payments accrue at 5.80 USD every eight hours. Taker fees equal total funding after 7 funding periods (2.33 days).
If holding a long BTC trade for 30 days, execution fees account for only 10.89% of the total cost on Bybit (110 USD of 1,010 USD), while funding accounts for 89.11%. Choosing a platform with a lower funding rate saves significantly more capital than choosing a platform with lower trading fees over longer horizons.
What is the cost of carry perpetual futures traders pay to hold positions?
The cost of carry consists of exchange execution fees paid at order entry and exit plus recurring funding payments settled every eight hours. Funding costs depend on nominal position size and vary based on contract premium relative to spot.
Which venue has the lowest funding cost for long BTC positions?
OKX currently offers the lowest funding rate for long BTC perpetual contracts at +0.0042% per 8-hour interval. Holding a 100,000 USD position on OKX costs 3.78 USD per day in funding compared to 9.00 USD per day on Bybit.
How does leverage impact perpetual contract holding costs?
Funding rates apply to total nominal position size rather than initial margin balance. At 10x leverage, a 0.0100% funding rate per 8 hours consumes 0.3000% of collateral equity daily.
How long does it take for funding costs to exceed trading fees?
Funding costs surpass round-trip taker execution fees within two to four days of opening a position, depending on exchange fee schedules and live asset funding rates.