Both OI- and volume-weighted funding rates rose notably between May 21 and May 22, peaking during the early hours of May 22 before moderating later in the day. This pattern suggests a burst in long demand as Bitcoin pushed to a new all-time high of $111,000, followed by some cooling as price momentum stabilized.
The funding rate for token-margined perpetuals has remained comparatively flat. This is consistent with historical behavior: token-margined contracts settle in BTC itself, so the cost of leverage is naturally diluted when the underlying asset is rapidly appreciating.
Traders are less incentivized to pay steep funding when the gains are already compounded in BTC terms, and arbitrageurs tend to balance positions more quickly across these markets.
Meanwhile, USDT- or USD-margined contracts remain more sensitive to directional bias since they’re structured to track USD-denominated PnL, amplifying the funding demand when long interest surges.
A closer look at individual exchanges shows that the majority of large venues, including Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Bitget, reported stable rates near 0.0100%.
However, platforms like Crypto.com and WhiteBIT showed negative funding rates of -0.0134% and -0.0100%, respectively. This indicates a dominant short-side imbalance on these venues, possibly driven by hedging flows or retail sell pressure.
Conversely, exchanges like BingX and Vertex reported lower positive rates, suggesting a more neutral or evenly balanced trader base.
These discrepancies are often the result of exchange-specific liquidity depth, user behavior, and institutional participation.
Larger platforms benefit from tighter arbitrage and more efficient funding alignment, while smaller venues may experience more persistent imbalances.
When funding rates deviate sharply, it often reflects temporary positioning inefficiencies or asymmetric demand that arbitrage has yet to correct.
