No. BitMEX does not take any cut, commission, or portion of the funding fee. Funding payments on perpetual contracts are entirely peer-to-peer. The full amount paid by one side is received by the other side.
- Positive funding rate: Funding is paid from long positions directly to short positions.
- Negative funding rate: Funding is paid from short positions directly to long positions.
BitMEX acts as the infrastructure provider that calculates and processes the funding payment. The exchange facilitates the transfer but does not retain any of the funds.
The peer-to-peer nature of funding is a core design principle of perpetual contracts. It ensures the price-anchoring mechanism operates without introducing additional costs from the exchange.
How does peer-to-peer funding work in practice?
At each funding timestamp (every eight hours on BitMEX), the system calculates the funding rate and identifies all open positions. The total funding paid by one side equals the total funding received by the other side.
Calculation
The funding payment for each position is:
Funding Payment = Funding Rate x Position Value
A trader holding a $100,000 long position with a +0.01% funding rate pays: 0.0001 x $100,000 = $10.00
That $10.00 is distributed across short position holders proportionally to their position sizes. BitMEX processes this transfer but keeps none of it.
How is funding different from BitMEX trading fees?
Funding and trading fees are separate charges with different beneficiaries.
| Fee Type | Beneficiary | When Charged | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funding payment | Other traders (P2P) | Every eight hours | Funding rate x position value |
| Maker/taker fee | BitMEX | On every trade execution | Fee rate x order value |