Bitcoin and Ether Funding Rates Sit Below Bearish Threshold as Prices Fall

Bitcoin and Ether fell Friday, while open-interest-weighted and trading-volume-weighted funding rates for both tokens sat below 0.005%, a level associated with bearish positioning in perpetual futures markets.

Bitcoin traded at $68,868 at 9:59 a.m. ET (14:59 UTC) Friday, down 3.62% over 24 hours. Ether was at $1,947.72, down 2.65% over the same period.

Friday's Bitcoin funding rates were 0.0040% by open interest and 0.0035% by trading volume. Ether's readings were 0.0027% and 0.0026%, respectively. All four were below 0.005%, and Ether's rates were lower than Bitcoin's on both measures.

Bitcoin's readings were below the threshold in the latest snapshot, compared with 0.0069% by open interest and 0.0056% by trading volume in the Oct. 29 funding-rate snapshot. Ether's rates were also below the threshold in that earlier snapshot, at 0.0042% and 0.0043%, respectively.

Funding rates are payments between traders holding opposing positions in perpetual futures. They help keep futures prices close to spot prices. These readings use an eight-hour basis: 0.01% is the benchmark, while rates below 0.005% indicate bearish positioning. All four rates remained positive.