◇ GLOSSARY
Funding
A periodic cash transfer between longs and shorts, paid on a fixed schedule (hourly on Hyperliquid, every 8 hours on many venues). When the perp trades above the index the rate is usually positive and longs pay shorts; below, shorts pay longs. It is not a fee to the exchange: it is the mechanism that pulls the perp back toward spot, and it runs whether or not your direction is working.
Funding is the price of staying open. Sign follows positioning: perp rich to index, longs usually pay; perp cheap, shorts pay. Hyperliquid settles hourly; many CEXs and regulated venues use 8-hour windows. Same annualized rate, different cash-flow cadence.
Retail traders anchor on the chart. Funding compounds on the clock. A $10,000 long at +0.01%/h bleeds $1/hour, $24/day, $720 over 30 flat days. On $2,000 margin at 5× that is 36% of collateral with zero price move.
Funding is not the exchange taking a cut. It is peer-to-peer carry that keeps the perp near spot. Model it before entry. Right on direction, wrong on carry, is a common way to lose.