The three majors everyone compares. Screenshots of funding rates are free. Surviving fees and price drift between the two legs is the real job.
TL;DR: Find a lasting funding-rate gap between two exchanges, open long on one and short on the other (same size), subtract round-trip fees and any adverse price gap, then close when the rate gap shrinks.
In plain terms: on perpetual futures, longs and shorts periodically pay each other “funding.” The same coin on Binance, Bybit, and OKX is three independent markets: rate, payout interval, and contract price live separately. A rate gap is an opportunity, not guaranteed profit.
The classic idea: go long where you are paid (or paid more), and short where you pay (or pay less). While rates hold, you collect the gap. While the two venues’ prices do not move hard against you, you stay roughly neutral to the coin going up or down.
The 2026 problem is not that rate gaps vanished. The problem is that fees, slippage, and price spread often eat the entire expected income over 1–3 settlements.
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Primer: what funding rate is · bundles
Across pairs and venues the interval may be 1 hour or 8 hours. It changes — always check the contract card before entry.
| Venue | Typical interval | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Binance | 1h / 8h | Interval flips on alts |
| Bybit | 1h / 8h | Mid divergence vs Binance |
| OKX | 1h / 8h | Different premium formula |
Leg rule: long where you are paid (or paid more), short where you pay (or pay less). Then always check the price spread.
Suppose Bybit funding is +0.04% per 8 hours (longs pay) and Binance is −0.01% (shorts pay / longs receive). Favorable gap for long Binance + short Bybit: about 0.05% per settlement.
The rates looked green. The trade was not. You need either more settlements with a durable gap, or lower fees / a better entry.
If expected funding over your hold horizon is less than full round-trip cost (open + close both legs) — do not enter. Period.
Four taker fees: open A, open B, close A, close B — often eat the whole edge
Adverse basis: mids move against the hedge
Funding flipped during the hold
Settlement timing: who pays at the timestamp
Margin interest or borrow if there is a spot leg
Sort by rate gap after fees, not by raw rate
Check both books for your size
Open nearly together, or use limits with a miss plan
Log rates, mids, fees, and expected settlements
Exit when the gap compresses, N is hit, or a basis stop triggers
Liquidations under leverage, partial fills, API downtime, regional blocks. Funding arbitrage is not risk-free carry.
Binance, Bybit, and OKX still produce live rate gaps. Money comes not from a screenshot of the difference, but from net math after fees, basis, and execution risk. If the math still leaves a cushion — work it. If not — skip.
VoltArb calculates actual net profit using order book depth, slippage, fees, and funding rates.
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