Funding rates are negative — and this is a big deal.

What are funding rates?

In cryptocurrency futures trading, funding rates are small payments made between traders. They help keep the futures price in line with the spot (real) price.

. When funding is positive, bullish traders (those betting on price increases) pay bearish traders.

. When funding is negative, bearish traders (those betting on price decreases) pay bullish traders.

So, what does negative funding mean?

It means that more people are betting against Bitcoin at this moment. The majority of the market believes that the price will fall.