Perpetual futures are charged with ‘maker’ and ‘taker’ fees, as well as funding fees.
What is the maker/taker fee?
- Maker fee: Charged when you place a limit or stop order that isn't immediately matched by a market order (pending order).
- Taker fee: Charged when you place a market order.
These fees are charged when you open and close a position.
- Market orders = Taker fee
- Pending limit orders = Maker fee
Fee structure:
| Maker fee | Taker fee |
| 0.025% | 0.035% |
What is the funding fee in perpetual futures?
The funding fee is a periodic payment exchanged between traders holding long and short positions on a perpetual futures contract. It exists to help keep the price of the perpetual contract closely aligned with the underlying spot market (also referred to as the index price).
Unlike traditional futures contracts, perpetual futures don’t have an expiry date. Because of this, funding payments act as a balancing mechanism, encouraging price convergence between the futures market and the actual spot market.
How does it work?
The funding rate, which determines the funding fee, is recalculated at regular intervals (often every 8 hours, depending on the exchange). It can be positive or negative, depending on market conditions:
- Positive funding rate (Contango): When the perpetual contract is trading above the spot price, long position holders (buyers) pay short position holders (sellers). This discourages excessive long interest and helps bring the price back in line with spot.
- Negative funding rate (Backwardation): When the contract is trading below the spot price, short position holders pay longs. This discourages too much shorting and again aims to bring the market back into balance.
Calculation example:
- If the BTCUSD market price is $60,000 and you have a position of 0.01 lots (BTC face value), your market value would be: $60,000 x 0.01 = $6,000
- If the funding rate is 0.1%, your funding fee would be: $6,000 x 0.1% = $6 USDT
Depending on the direction of the funding rate, you would either pay or receive this amount at the next funding interval. Funding fees are settled every 8 hours (12:00 AM, 8:00 AM, and 4:00 PM UTC).
| Funding rate | Long | Short |
| +% | Debit | Credit |
| -% | Credit | Debit |