Funding Rate vs Open Interest

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 total number of outstanding derivative contracts that have not been settled or closed; a measure of committed capital rather than direction; rising OI indicates new money entering; falling OI indicates positions being closed.