Funding rate arbitrage scanner: how to find and trade funding gaps across exchanges

Funding rate arbitrage earns from the periodic payment that perpetual futures make between longs and shorts, not from a price gap. When funding is positive, longs pay shorts; when it is negative, shorts pay longs. If you hold a position that is hedged against price movement, you can collect that payment while staying close to market-neutral. Our funding rate arbitrage basics post covers the mechanics — this one is about finding the opportunities with a scanner.

There are two common shapes. The first is spot against perpetual: buy the asset on spot and short the perpetual on the same or another exchange, collecting funding when it is positive. The second is perpetual against perpetual across exchanges: short on the exchange where funding is highest and go long on the exchange where it is lowest or negative, so you earn the difference between the two rates.

The hard part is that funding differs by exchange and changes over time. Rates are paid on a schedule — commonly every few hours — and reset from market conditions, so a gap that looks attractive now can shrink or flip before the next payment. Funding is a rate, not a guaranteed return: you are earning the carry for as long as the gap stays in your favour.

This is where a funding rate arbitrage scanner earns its place. Arbitrex shows funding live alongside spreads across every pair with no whitelist, so you can sort by the gap between exchanges instead of opening dozens of futures pages. You see which assets carry an unusually high or low rate, how the rate differs between venues, and whether the price spread helps or hurts the same trade.

Before entering, convert the rate into something you can compare. Annualise it roughly, subtract trading fees on both legs and any cost of the spot or margin side, and compare it to how long you realistically hold. Then check depth and the price spread: entering at a bad basis can cost more than several funding payments earn. Prefer liquid contracts where you can enter and exit without moving the book.

The traps are consistent. Extreme funding often appears when the market is crowded one way, which is also when a squeeze can liquidate the short leg; rates can flip after you enter; and a hedge held for days is exposed to basis moves between the two legs. Size conservatively, keep margin buffer on the short, watch for changes in funding rather than assuming it persists, and close when the gap no longer covers the risk.