Bitcoin Funding Rate History: Settlement Data and Market Examples

TL;DR: Bitcoin Funding Rate History in 60 Seconds

Bitcoin fundingPeriodic payments between buyers and sellers of perpetual futures. Buyers pay when the rate is positive; sellers pay when it is negative. This mechanism keeps the contract price closer to the underlying asset price. rate history records the rate used to transfer money between longs and shorts in a BTC perpetual market. Positive funding generally means longs pay shorts; negative funding reverses the payment. The contract, exchange and payment interval matter as much as the percentage.

This article combines verified examples from Binance's BTCUSDT settlement archive with Yieldo's recent cross-exchange history, which starts on 5 July 2026. In April 2021, Binance BTCUSDT averaged +0.050110% per eight-hour settlement, equivalent to 54.87% simple annualized funding; its largest April print was +0.148624%. Those are figures for one contract and month, not an all-time record across exchanges or a future yield.

What Bitcoin Funding Rate History Actually Measures

How BTC Perpetual Funding Works

Perpetual contracts have no scheduled expiry. Funding helps link their price to a spot index by transferring money between the two sides. The funding guide explains the mechanism. The rate is applied to the position at settlement; funding received is one part of a trade's result alongside price changes and expenses.

A Published Rate and a Settled Payment Are Different

A currently published rate can change before payment. An exchange settlement-history row identifies the rate used at a past payment time, while a chart of rates collected during the day shows what was published then. For your actual cash flow, also check the position you held at each settlement and your account's transaction history.

How Yieldo and the Historical Examples Fit Together

Yieldo's recent rate history lets you compare the last weeks across supported venues on the BTC funding page. It does not reconstruct 2020 or 2021. The older examples below were calculated from the official Binance USD-M BTCUSDT perpetual monthly archives. They describe six selected months; they are not a continuous global BTC series.

Bitcoin Funding by Market Period

March 2020 — A Sharp Negative Print

The Binance BTCUSDT archive contains 93 eight-hour settlements in March 2020. The minimum was −0.300000% on 13 March at 08:00 UTC; 42 of the 93 rates were negative. The monthly mean was −0.005719% per interval, equivalent to −6.26% simple annualized funding. A deep individual print and the average for the month tell different stories. Download the March 2020 archive.

April 2021 — Positive Funding with a Much Lower Monthly Mean than the Peak

All 90 Binance BTCUSDT settlements in April 2021 were positive. The maximum was +0.148624% on 10 April at 08:00 UTC; the mean was +0.050110% per eight hours. Multiplying that mean by 1 095 eight-hour periods per year gives 54.87% simple APR. The largest single print would extrapolate to 162.74%, but it was not the rate paid throughout the month. Download the April 2021 archive.

May 2021 — Negative Settlements without a Month of Continuous Negative Funding

May's archive has 7 negative settlements out of 93, with a minimum of −0.089697% on 19 May at 16:00 UTC. Its monthly mean remained positive at +0.024710% per eight hours, or 27.06% simple annualized funding. This contract's data does not support a claim that every major venue paid negative funding continuously for the whole month. Download the May 2021 archive.

November 2022 — Negative Average, Mixed Individual Settlements

In November 2022, 32 of 90 Binance BTCUSDT settlements were negative. The minimum was −0.119172% on 10 November at 00:00 UTC; the mean was −0.001930% per eight hours, equivalent to −2.11% simple APR. A negative monthly average does not mean every settlement was negative, and this single monthly file cannot establish a 50-day streak. Download the November 2022 archive.

January and March 2024 — Compare Averages, Not Just Headlines

January 2024 contains 93 positive Binance BTCUSDT settlements with a mean of +0.012034% per eight hours, equivalent to 13.18% simple APR. March has 93 positive settlements with a higher mean of +0.033765%, or 36.97% simple APR. The monthly maxima were +0.065846% and +0.088148% respectively. A high point in one cycle is not the monthly average. Sources: January 2024 and March 2024.

Recent History — Read the Dates in the Current Tables

For current BTC funding, use the tables above and the funding benchmark. The available Yieldo history begins on 5 July 2026. A present rate or moving average should not be assigned to an earlier month without its dated series; the same applies to an alleged record or a continuous negative streak.

Binance BTCUSDT month	Settlements	Minimum / maximum per 8h	Mean simple APR	Negative settlements
March 2020	93	−0.300000% / +0.054685%	−6.26%	42 / 93
April 2021	90	+0.010000% / +0.148624%	+54.87%	0 / 90
May 2021	93	−0.089697% / +0.098653%	+27.06%	7 / 93
November 2022	90	−0.119172% / +0.010000%	−2.11%	32 / 90
January 2024	93	+0.002154% / +0.065846%	+13.18%	0 / 93
March 2024	93	+0.010000% / +0.088148%	+36.97%	0 / 93

These are all rows in the six linked monthly files for one USD-M contract. All intervals in those files are eight hours. Mean simple APR is the mean signed rate multiplied by 1 095; it does not compound payments, include trading costs or describe the price return of BTC.

Extreme BTC Funding: Peaks, Troughs and Limits

What Counts as a Record?

A record requires a named contract and a defined history range. The largest April 2021 Binance BTCUSDT settlement above is not evidence of the highest funding ever paid on every BTC market. Current funding caps also cannot establish a historical record: exchanges can change caps, intervals and contract terms.

For arithmetic, a hypothetical +0.375% rate every eight hours annualizes to 410.625% simple APR, not 40%. Rates of +0.15% to +0.18% per eight hours annualize to 164.25% to 197.10%. These conversions do not prove those rates occurred or persisted.

Negative Funding and Duration

Distinguish a negative settlement, a negative daily mean, a negative monthly mean and a negative rolling 30-day mean. Each can produce a different streak length. The negative-funding guide explains who pays whom; the dated underlying series is needed to measure duration.

Cross-Exchange Differences

The same underlying BTC can have different funding on Binance, Bybit and OKX. Compare the same time window and normalize intervals before interpreting a difference. The funding-arbitrage scanner guide explains the two-leg calculation.

Where BTC Funding Sits Today — Cross-Coin Context

The live tables let you compare BTC with other supported contracts. Check the sign, interval and time together. A larger annualized number on an altcoin can reflect different liquidity and risk rather than a better trade.

Patterns and Noise in BTC Funding History

Positive Funding and Crowded Longs

Positive funding means the long side is paying to hold the perpetual. A sustained increase can add evidence of leveraged demand, but price, open interest and the spot market are needed to interpret it. Funding alone does not establish a market top. The funding indicator guide discusses this context.

Negative Funding and Crowded Shorts

Negative funding makes shorts pay longs. It can occur during a selloff, but also in a hedge or a temporary dislocation. It does not by itself show capitulation or guarantee a short squeeze.

What History Does Not Predict

A past rate does not tell you the next payment, the time of a reversal or the future BTC price. A recurring pattern is a question to investigate, not a rule that a trade must follow.

How to Use Bitcoin Funding Rate History Today

Compare Matching Windows

Compare the present rate with recent averages for the same contract. When comparing exchanges, use a common period and interval-normalized rates. A current quote, a historical settlement and a rolling average are different measurements.

Calculate a Trade's Payments and Costs

For a planned position, estimate the actual settlement times during your holding period, your notional, trading fees and likely price difference on entry and exit. The funding calculator and withdrawal tables help with specified costs; the gross rate is not the final result.

Watch Changes in Regime

Follow whether the rate changes direction and whether the change persists across several payments. Compare the same series before drawing a conclusion from a streak. Readers seeking income without perpetual positions can compare the different mechanisms on the staking hub.

BTC Funding History Across Exchanges

Why Rates Differ

Each market has its own premium, liquidity, formula and contract rules. Check the contract's settlement asset and notional definition as well as its rate. The funding hub compares supported venues; it does not imply every BTC perpetual market is covered.

The 8h, 4h and 1h Interval Question

Read the interval of the selected contract rather than assigning one interval to an entire exchange. Hyperliquid's official documentation specifies hourly payments. Other venues can use different schedules or change them. A +0.01% rate per eight hours is 10.95% simple APR; the same rate per hour is 87.60%.

Compare Each Leg Separately

For equal notionals, a perpetual-perpetual trade's gross annual difference is 100 × 8 760 × (r_short / h_short − r_long / h_long), where rates are fractions and intervals are hours. It is measured on one leg's notional. A return on total committed capital must also include collateral on both venues and expenses.

Methodology and Data Sources

Yieldo's Recent History

The BTC page contains current rates and recent history. Downloadable data and its scope are listed on the benchmark page. Rates collected while a payment is still pending should not be treated as an account's settled cash flow.

Official Settlement Archives

The historical table was recalculated on 7 October 2026 from the six linked Binance monthly files. Binance's public-data documentation explains its archive and checksum files. Each archive's checksum matched. The table uses last_funding_rate, funding_interval_hours and UTC calc_time. For API history, see Binance and Bybit.

Normalization

With signed rate r as a fraction and interval h in hours, simple APR in percent is r × 8 760 / h × 100. For a period with changing intervals, use 100 × 8 760 × sum(r) / sum(h). This rescales past payments for comparison; it is not compound APY or a forecast. Caps and floors are contract-specific.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the highest funding rate for Bitcoin?

There is no verified global all-time figure in this article. In the official Binance USD-M BTCUSDT archive for April 2021, the maximum settlement rate was +0.148624% per eight hours on 10 April at 08:00 UTC. That identifies one contract and month.

What was the lowest, most negative BTC funding rate?

In the Binance BTCUSDT March 2020 archive, the minimum was −0.300000% per eight hours on 13 March at 08:00 UTC. It is a verified figure for that contract and month, not a claim about every exchange's entire history.

Does extreme funding predict a Bitcoin crash?

No single funding reading reliably identifies the timing of a crash. It shows the cost of maintaining a perpetual position; use price, liquidity and open interest to interpret the context.

Why do Bitcoin funding rates spike?

A changing premium between the perpetual and its spot index can change funding. Demand for leveraged positions, hedging and liquidity affect that premium; the exact calculation depends on the contract.

How often does BTC funding go negative?

The answer requires an exchange, contract, time window and definition. For example, Binance BTCUSDT had 42 negative settlements out of 93 in March 2020 and 32 out of 90 in November 2022. Neither is a universal frequency or a continuous negative streak.

What is a normal Bitcoin funding rate?

There is no permanent normal rate. Compare the selected contract with its recent history. A +0.01% eight-hour rate annualizes to 10.95% simple APR, but that conversion does not show how often the rate occurred or how long it will last.

Does BTC funding differ across exchanges?

Yes. Premiums, liquidity, contract formulas and payment intervals can differ. Normalize each rate using its actual interval and compare matching periods.

Where can I see live Bitcoin funding data?

Use Yieldo's BTC funding page for supported venues and recent history, and the broader funding hub for other coins. Check the contract, interval and time alongside the rate.

How is Bitcoin funding history different from Ethereum's?

BTC and ETH have separate markets and demand for positions. Compare the same venues and periods before claiming one has larger spikes or longer negative streaks; that conclusion is not established by this BTC-only historical table.