Funding Rate vs Long/Short Ratio

A periodic payment exchanged between long and short holders of a perpetual futures contract, calculated to keep the contract price anchored to the spot price; positive funding means longs pay shorts; negative funding means shorts pay longs; typically settled every 8 hours on major exchanges.

The proportion of accounts or positions on the long side versus the short side of a derivatives market; extreme readings are contrarian signals — very high ratios indicate crowded longs; very low ratios indicate crowded shorts; most actionable when confirmed by funding rate direction.