Funding interval
The funding interval is how often funding payments occur on a perpetual contract — most commonly every 8 hours, though some venues and contracts use 4-hour or 1-hour cycles.
Intervals are set per contract by the exchange. The 8-hour cycle (00:00, 08:00, 16:00 UTC) is the industry default inherited from the earliest perpetual designs, but shorter intervals have become common on volatile or newly listed contracts, where faster settlement keeps the perpetual tracking its index more tightly.
The interval changes trading mechanics in two ways. First, eligibility: funding applies to positions held at the timestamp — a trade opened and closed entirely between timestamps pays and receives nothing, whatever the rate. Second, quoted-rate comparison: a 0.01% rate per 8 hours and per 1 hour differ eightfold in daily cost, so rates are only comparable normalized to the same period.
Check the interval alongside the rate in each contract's specifications; assuming 8 hours on a 4-hour contract doubles your funding cost estimate silently. Interval and rate together — not either alone — determine what holding a position through time actually costs.
Funding timing and eligibility →