PolyTerminal
Who pays whom
The sign of the hourly rate decides who pays: longs pay shorts while it is positive, and shorts pay longs while it is negative. Each payment depends on the size of your position and the hourly rate, so a larger position pays or receives more. Realized funding is tracked separately from trading profit and loss.
How the rate is set
The exchange samples a premium every 5 seconds: it prices a fixed-size order on each side of the book and measures the gap from the index price. The samples of one window are averaged, run through a formula with a small interest term, converted to an hourly rate and capped. Crypto and other markets use different scales: 1.0 for crypto, 0.5 otherwise.
What to keep in mind
Funding keeps running when the underlying market is closed. Between settlements, the exchange publishes a rolling premium sample and the rate it implies, so the pressure can be watched as it builds. The funding rate guide shows how the formula behaves for different premiums.
Sources and checks
Every rule quoted in this article comes from the registry below. Each row names the official page and the day it was compared with the text.
All 9 rules used in this article
| Rule | Value | Official source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funding charge window | 1 hour | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Funding rate cap | 4% per hour | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Who receives funding | the protocol takes no cut | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Who pays funding, by the sign of the hourly rate | longs pay shorts while it is positive, and shorts pay longs while it is negative | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| What a funding payment depends on | the size of your position and the hourly rate | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| How realized funding is tracked | tracked separately from trading profit and loss | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Premium index sampling | every 5 seconds | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Funding scale | 1.0 for crypto, 0.5 otherwise | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Funding when the underlying market is closed | keeps running | docs.polymarket.com/ |
Related terms
Read the full guide
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PolyTerminal is an independent interface for Polymarket and is not operated or endorsed by Polymarket. Orders placed through PolyTerminal carry PolyTerminal’s Polymarket builder code, and PolyTerminal may charge a builder fee on top of Polymarket’s own fees. This page is educational and is not investment advice. Rules were compared with the official documentation on Oct 19, 2026; check the source before you act on a number.