No. When the funding rate is positive, long positions pay funding fees to short positions. This is a fixed rule on OKX, and there is no exception where the rate is positive but longs receive money instead.
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1. Understanding What Positive and Negative Funding Rates Represent
The funding rate is a mechanism designed to keep perpetual contract prices aligned with spot prices. When the contract price is higher than the spot price, market sentiment is more bullish, and the rate is positive; conversely, the rate is negative.
The payment direction is determined by whether the rate is positive or negative, not by the price trend.
Multiple documents in the OKX official Help Center clearly state:
"When the funding rate is positive, long position holders pay funding fees to short position holders; conversely, when the funding rate is negative, short position holders pay funding fees to long position holders."
This rule is fixed and will not change based on your position size, leverage, or holding duration.
2. When Do Longs Receive Payments?
There is only one situation: when the funding rate is negative, longs receive payments.
A negative rate means that short positions are more concentrated (contract price is lower than spot price), and shorts pay funding fees to longs. If you are long, you are the recipient.
So the question is not "Are longs always the payer?" but "Are longs always the payer when the rate is positive?" — the answer is yes.
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3. If You See a Positive Rate but Are Not Charged
There are several possibilities unrelated to the rate direction:
No position at settlement: Funding fees are only charged to those holding positions at fixed intervals (usually every 8 hours). If you closed your position before settlement, no funding fee is incurred.
Rate is too small: If your position value is very small, the funding fee amount may be below the system's minimum charge unit and will not appear in your statement.
You are short, not long: Check your position direction.
Prerequisite: You hold an OKX perpetual contract position.
Risk Reminder: Funding fees are deducted from your position margin. If the margin is insufficient, it may trigger position reduction or liquidation. Do not only look at whether the rate is positive or negative; also check if your position is still open at settlement and whether your margin is sufficient.
After checking the above, how do you know you understand?
Go to the top right corner of the contract trading page and check the "funding rate / countdown" — if it shows positive and you have a position, then at settlement longs are the payers. Check [Assets] → [Trading Account] → [Statement] → [Funding Fee] to see the payment or receipt records of each funding fee. If you are long and the record shows a negative amount, it means you indeed paid the fee. That's the rule.
