Normalize the interval before ranking rates
Use periodic rate multiplied by 24 divided by interval hours to obtain a simple daily equivalent. In a hypothetical comparison, Venue A displays 0.006% every hour and Venue B displays 0.020% every eight hours. Their daily equivalents are 0.144% and 0.060%, respectively, if the rates stay unchanged throughout that day.
The raw percentage on Venue B is larger, but Venue A's daily equivalent is 2.4 times as high. On a constant 10,000 USDT notional, the illustrative daily payments are 14.40 and 6 USDT. Comparing raw values would reverse their order. Always store the rate's unit with its number so a display percentage is not accidentally treated as a decimal fraction.
Use the contract's reported schedule
Funding schedules are contract-specific. Bybit's instruments endpoint includes a fundingInterval field measured in minutes. Its funding documentation also explains settlement timing. Fetch the relevant contract metadata rather than assuming that every BTC contract, every venue or every future funding payment follows an eight-hour schedule.
A holding period is not necessarily an exact number of payment intervals. For an event-based settlement, entering shortly before a scheduled payment and exiting shortly afterward differs from holding entirely between two payments. Use the venue's precise rules and actual settlement timestamps. Fractional interval multiplication is a scenario approximation, not a substitute for an account's funding ledger.
Track the cash-flow sign from your position
Under the conventional perpetual funding sign used in Bybit's documentation, positive funding transfers value from longs to shorts; negative funding reverses that direction. For a short position with a 10,000 USDT funding notional, a rate of minus 0.015% means a 1.50 USDT payment for that settlement. An equal long would receive 1.50 USDT under those assumptions.
A spot-long and perpetual-short hedge therefore receives positive funding on its short leg and pays negative funding. Owning the spot asset does not reverse the short contract's funding charge. Keep funding receipts positive and funding payments negative in the strategy's own cash-flow record to avoid subtracting a negative cost twice.
Compare both legs of a funding trade
For equal constant notionals on two linear perpetuals, a simplified short-A, long-B funding estimate is short-leg funding received minus long-leg funding paid. If both use eight-hour intervals, A is positive 0.03% and B is positive 0.01%, the difference on 10,000 USDT is 2 USDT per paired settlement, before four trade fees for opening and closing both positions.
If either schedule differs, normalize carefully or sum the actual settlement events. Then include margin on both venues, entry and exit spreads, basis changes and any transfer costs. A predicted next rate can change before settlement. Compare historical settled cash flows separately from forward scenarios, and stress the calculation with a sign reversal on the leg that currently appears favorable.
Questions about this tool
Does negative funding mean that every trader gets paid?
No. The sign determines the direction of the transfer between long and short positions under the exchange's convention. With negative funding, shorts generally pay longs; confirm the product's rules.
Can I multiply an hourly rate by eight to compare it with an eight-hour rate?
Yes, as a simple constant-rate equivalent. It does not predict the next eight individual hourly rates or guarantee that the position qualifies for every settlement.