Can you collect perpetual funding by entering just before it is paid?
No. On BTC, ETH and ten liquid altcoin perpetual futures from January 2022 to September 2026, the price moved against the side receiving funding by about as much as the payment — roughly 1.2 basis points of adverse move per basis point of funding — in the minutes around each 8-hour settlement. Gross profit was near zero at every funding level, and after fees the trade lost 0.03% to 0.12% per round trip.
The claim
The question is a classic. Funding goes to whoever holds the position at the settlement timestamp, and the rate is almost known in advance — so why not open the receiving side a few minutes before, collect, and close? The asker points out that for this not to be free money, the perpetual’s price would have to move against the receiver by the amount of the payment, the way a stock drops by its dividend on the ex-date. The answers name adverse price moves, fees and slippage.
What we tested
BTC, ETH and ten liquid altcoin perpetual futures, January 2022 to September 2026, at every 8-hour settlement. The naive trade takes the receiving side 15 minutes before settlement and closes one minute after, at one-minute prices. We measured how the price move over that window depends on the funding rate, and compared the minutes before settlement with the same window four hours later.
Result
The adverse move grows almost one-for-one with funding: about 1.2 basis points against the receiver for every basis point of funding, a slope that is clearly positive across settlements. The payment is priced in, like a dividend. Gross profit was close to zero in every decile of funding — +0.002% in the highest — and net results were −0.09% to −0.12% per round trip for takers and −0.03% to −0.06% for makers. There was no drift into settlement either: the 15 minutes before it looked like any other 15 minutes.
Naive funding capture, 15 minutes before to 1 minute after settlement
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Adverse price move per unit of funding | ≈ 1.2× |
| Gross profit, highest-funding decile | +0.002% |
| Net per round trip, taker | −0.09% to −0.12% |
| Net per round trip, maker | −0.03% to −0.06% |
| Drift in the 15 minutes before settlement | None vs a control window |
What it means
Funding is compensation for carrying a position through the whole funding interval, not a coupon that can be clipped at the timestamp. A position held only around settlement pays for the coupon through the price. High funding also tends to come with volatile markets, when slippage is worst.
What would change the verdict
The trade could only work where the payment is large relative to fees and the price does not adjust at settlement — something to measure the same way before trusting it.
This note re-tests a claim made by the cited authors on our own crypto market data; the summary of their method is ours. Tested · published · last reviewed . Research, not investment advice.