A perpetual-futures funding rate is not a spot return

A perpetual-futures funding rate is not a spot return

Perpetual futures use periodic funding payments to help keep the contract price near an underlying spot index. Coinbase International Exchange explains that, when funding is positive, long positions pay short positions; when it is negative, the direction reverses.

Funding is a transfer between positions, not a forecast of the asset's next price move. The rate can change, and it is separate from both the contract's market price and the underlying spot-index price.