Funding rate arbitrage is a delta-neutral trade that goes long a coin's perpetual future on the exchange with the lowest funding rate and short the same size where funding is highest, earning the gap between them. The table on this page ranks coins by that gap in real time. For the theory and worked examples, read the funding rate arbitrage guide.
How it works
- Find a coin with a wide spread. The same coin pays different funding rates on different exchanges, because each venue has its own traders and positioning.
- Open the long leg on the exchange with the lowest (or most negative) funding. When funding is negative there, shorts pay you.
- Open the short leg of equal notional size on the exchange with the highest funding. When funding is positive there, longs pay you.
- Hold through funding payments. Because one leg gains what the other loses on price, the position is delta-neutral, and your return comes from the funding difference.
- Close both legs when the spread narrows below what covers your costs, or when one rate flips.
Reading the scanner
Every row is priced for your balance ($100 by default) and leverage (1x), split evenly across the two exchanges, and for the holding period you pick (7 days by default). By default the gap used is the pair's average over the last 7 days, because a rate can spike for a few hours and then snap back; switch to the 24-hour average or the rate right now in the filters. A coin listed too recently to have 48 hours of history shows "No history yet".
- Long / short: the exchange to go long (lowest funding) and the exchange to go short (highest funding), each with its rate exactly as the exchange quotes it, per its own funding interval, so you can check it on the exchange.
- Gap / 8h: the short rate minus the long rate, both converted to 8 hours, averaged over the chosen window. This is what each $1 of position collects every 8 hours before fees. The muted line below is the gap right now.
- Costs: taker fees for the four trades, opening and closing both legs, plus the slippage of walking both order books in and out at your size.
- Size / leg: how much goes on each exchange. ArbTide reads both order books every minute for the pairs at the top of the table; when they are too thin for your size, the size drops to the amount that earns the most, and the line below shows that capacity. Pairs whose books cannot be read get no profit figure above $10,000 per leg.
- Gross: funding collected over the holding period.
- Net: gross minus costs. Green means the trade pays for itself within the period.
- Return: net as a share of your balance.
- Break-even: how long both legs must stay open for funding to cover the fees.
- 24h volume: the coin's perpetual trading volume in USD. Higher volume usually means tighter order books and less slippage when you enter.
- History: under each coin, opens the hourly history of that exact pair's gap, so you can see whether it has lasted.
To judge a row, check three things. First, is the spread driven by one leg with a rate far from the median? Extreme rates tend to revert quickly. Second, look at funding history for the coin to see whether the gap has lasted for days or appeared in the last interval. Third, check Break-even against how long you expect the gap to last. For example, if four taker fills cost 0.2% in total and the gap is 0.0183% per 8h, funding covers the fees after about 33 hours. The funding arbitrage calculator runs the same math with your own inputs.
Costs and risks the scanner does not include
- Maker fees and rebates: the scanner assumes taker fills. Resting limit orders can cost less; see maker vs taker fees.
- Price basis between the two perps: if you open when the short perp trades below the long perp and close after they swap, you lose on price even though the position is hedged.
- Funding changes: rates reset every interval. A spread can shrink or reverse before you have earned back your fees.
- Interval mismatch: an 8-hour venue paired with an hourly venue pays on different schedules, so your income arrives unevenly and you may pay on one side before you receive on the other.
- Liquidation: margin is held separately on each exchange. A sharp move can liquidate one leg while the other leg's profit sits on a different venue. Use lower leverage than you would on a single position.
- Transfer and exchange risk: rebalancing margin means withdrawals, network fees and delays, and your capital is exposed to two exchanges at once.
These are covered in more depth in arbitrage risks, and the exact formulas are on the methodology page.
When it works best
The strategy pays when a spread is both wide and persistent. That usually happens during strong trends, when one exchange's traders crowd into the same side, or on newly listed coins where venues disagree about fair funding. Liquid coins with a steady gap over several days tend to work better than a single spike on a thin market. It also helps to already hold margin on both exchanges, so you can open both legs in the same minute. Browse all live funding rates to compare coins, or see other strategies.