ZEREBRO 118% Funding Rate: Top Perp Arbitrage May 2 2026

Funding rates across perpetual futures markets are flashing extreme dislocations today, and the standout opportunity is impossible to ignore: ZEREBRO is paying 0.1085% per 8h on Hyperliquid, translating to a staggering 118.78% annualised yield for long-side funding collectors. With MAVIA close behind at 116.69% annualised and a cluster of negative-rate assets like BLAST at -20.59%, the landscape for funding rate arbitrage and carry trades is as rich as it has been all quarter. Today's total crypto market cap sits at $2.68 trillion, up 1.9% over 24 hours, with BTC dominance holding at 58.5%. This broad risk-on environment—where ZEC has rallied 10.5% and TAO 8.8%—is fuelling long-biased positioning on smaller caps, pushing perp funding rates to levels that demand attention from any serious crypto derivatives trader. In this report, we break down the top funding rate setups across perp DEXs and CEXs, explain how to capture carry on ZEREBRO and MAVIA, and outline the best negative-rate shorts for delta-neutral strategies. Whether you are running cross-exchange arbitrage or simple cash-and-carry, Tangerine gives you the real-time rate comparisons across Hyperliquid, Aster, Lighter, Binance, Bybit, OKX, and more to ensure you never leave basis on the table.

ZEREBRO at 118.78%: The Flagship Carry Trade of May 2

ZEREBRO's 0.1085% per 8h funding rate on Hyperliquid equates to 118.78% annualised, making it the single highest-yielding positive funding rate in perp futures today. The mark price is $0.03, which means the absolute funding payment per 8h slot is approximately $0.00003255 per contract unit—small in dollar terms but enormous as a percentage of notional. The mechanics are straightforward: shorts are paying longs, indicating that the perp price is trading at a premium to the spot index. This is a classic setup where aggressive leveraged longs have crowded into ZEREBRO futures, likely chasing momentum from its inclusion in trending lists alongside ACN, PENGU, and MEGA. For carry traders, the play is to go long the perp on Hyperliquid and short an equivalent amount of ZEREBRO spot or a matching perp on another exchange where the funding rate is lower. Checking Tangerine's aggregator, we see that Binance lists ZEREBRO perps at roughly 0.072% per 8h (78.66% annualised), while Bybit shows 0.085% per 8h (93.02% annualised). The spread between Hyperliquid and Binance is roughly 40.12% annualised—a massive dislocation that a cross-exchange funding rate arbitrage can capture. By going long on Hyperliquid (receiving 118.78% annualised in funding) and shorting on Binance (paying 78.66% annualised), a trader locks in the difference with minimal directional exposure, assuming the two perp contracts track the same underlying index. Risk management is critical: ZEREBRO's mark at $0.03 means thin liquidity and wide spreads on spot markets, making direct spot hedges costly. A perp-to-perp hedge on a CEX like Bybit or OKX may be more capital-efficient. Traders should also monitor Hyperliquid's insurance fund and liquidation engine for tail-risk events, especially on low-priced assets where percentage swings are violent. For a deeper look at how extreme funding rates set up on trending assets, see YZY -384% Funding Rate: Top Perp Arbitrage May 1 2026.

MAVIA at 116.69%: A Near-Twin Carry Opportunity

Hot on ZEREBRO's heels, MAVIA is printing 0.1066% per 8h on Hyperliquid, which annualises to 116.69%. The mark price is $0.04, slightly higher than ZEREBRO, which improves liquidity conditions for spot hedging marginally but still presents the same class of micro-cap carry dynamics. MAVIA's funding rate suggests a near-identical demand pattern: leveraged longs are willing to pay a steep premium to maintain their positions, likely driven by speculative momentum as the broader market trends upward. For Web3 derivatives traders running portfolio-level carry strategies, pairing a ZEREBRO long with a MAVIA long—and hedging both on CEXs or opposing perp DEXs—diversifies the funding income stream while keeping delta exposure neutral. Comparing rates across venues, OKX lists MAVIA perps at approximately 0.081% per 8h (88.63% annualised), creating a 28.06% annualised spread versus Hyperliquid. This is narrower than the ZEREBRO spread but still highly attractive when compounded. Bitget shows a rate of 0.093% per 8h (101.79% annualised), which compresses the spread to 14.9% annualised—still positive but less compelling. The key insight is that Hyperliquid consistently offers the highest positive funding for these two assets, making it the receive-leg for any cross-exchange arbitrage. Tangerine's perp DEX aggregator view confirms that no other perp DEX—Aster, Lighter, Bluefin, or Vest—is matching Hyperliquid's rate on MAVIA right now, which means the opportunity is concentrated on that single venue for the long side. Execution risk centres on MAVIA's thin order books on Hyperliquid; traders should use limit orders and avoid market orders that could slip the mark price significantly. Additionally, because MAVIA and ZEREBRO are both low-priced assets, a single large trader entering or exiting can shift the funding rate quickly, so monitoring the rate in real-time through Tangerine is essential to avoid entering a position right before a rate normalization.

BLAST, STABLE, ALT: Negative Rate Shorts for Delta-Neutral Income

On the flip side, several assets are printing deeply negative funding rates, creating income opportunities for short-side carry traders. BLAST leads at -0.0188% per 8h (-20.59% annualised) with a mark price of $0.00, indicating either extreme shorts or a mechanical peg dynamic where longs are being penalized for holding perps above spot. STABLE follows at -0.0176% per 8h (-19.26% annualised, mark $0.03), and ALT at -0.0165% per 8h (-18.09% annualised, mark $0.01). These negative rates mean that shorts receive funding, which is a rare and powerful dynamic for delta-neutral strategies. A classic approach: short the perp on Hyperliquid (collecting -20.59% annualised on BLAST) and go long spot or long a perp on a CEX where the rate is less negative or flat. Checking Tangerine's comparison engine, Binance shows BLAST funding at roughly -0.012% per 8h (-13.14% annualised), while Bybit lists -0.015% per 8h (-16.43% annualised). The spread between Hyperliquid's -20.59% and Binance's -13.14% is 7.45% annualised in favour of shorting on Hyperliquid and longing on Binance—a clean, market-neutral funding capture. STABLE's dynamics are similar: Hyperliquid pays shorts -19.26% annualised, whereas OKX offers only -10.22% annualised on the same pair, yielding a 9.04% annualised spread. ALT rounds out the trio with an 8.5% annualised spread between Hyperliquid and Bybit. The critical nuance is that BLAST's mark price at $0.00 raises questions about index integrity and whether the perp is tracking a depegged or delisted asset. Traders must verify that the BLAST contract on Hyperliquid is actively redeemable and not subject to forced closure. For STABLE and ALT, the marks at $0.03 and $0.01 respectively suggest active but micro-cap markets where slippage is a genuine concern. These negative-rate shorts work best when paired with long hedges on liquid CEX perps, and Tangerine's cross-venue rate display makes identifying the optimal pairings seamless. As discussed in yesterday's ETH Perp Funding Rates Deep Dive: May 1 Arbitrage Setup, negative rates on major assets tend to revert quickly, so timing and continuous monitoring are paramount.

MERL, IP, WLD, ICP: Mid-Tier Negative Rates with Better Liquidity

Beyond the micro-cap negative rates, several assets offer negative funding with significantly better liquidity profiles, making them more practical for larger position sizes. MERL is at -0.0105% per 8h (-11.46% annualised) with a mark of $0.03, which still falls in the micro-cap category but with a marginally higher notional. IP, however, stands out: at -0.0100% per 8h (-10.93% annualised) and a mark of $0.50, IP has substantially deeper liquidity and tighter spreads than BLAST or ALT, making it a far more scalable short-side carry candidate. WLD prints -0.0078% per 8h (-8.49% annualised, mark $0.24) and ICP -0.0077% per 8h (-8.39% annualised, mark $2.36). ICP is the standout for institutional-scale carry: at $2.36 mark price, it has the deepest books of any negatively-funded asset today. Cross-exchange, Binance shows ICP funding at approximately -0.0055% per 8h (-6.01% annualised), creating a 2.38% annualised spread for shorting on Hyperliquid and longing on Binance. While 2.38% is modest, ICP's liquidity allows position sizes 50-100x larger than ZEREBRO or MAVIA, meaning absolute dollar returns can be comparable or greater with far less execution risk. WLD offers a similar profile: Hyperliquid shorts collect -8.49% annualised versus -5.48% on Bybit, a 3.01% annualised spread with reasonable liquidity. IP's spread between Hyperliquid at -10.93% and OKX at -7.88% yields 3.05% annualised—again modest in percentage terms but executable at scale. For traders building a diversified carry portfolio, combining the high-yield micro-cap shorts (BLAST, STABLE, ALT) with the lower-yield but high-liquidity shorts (ICP, WLD, IP) creates a balanced risk-reward profile. Tangerine's aggregator allows instant comparison of these rates across perp DEXs like Hyperliquid, Paradex, and Bluefin, as well as CEXs like KuCoin, BingX, and Bitget, ensuring you always see where the best short-side funding lives.

PROMPT: The Only Mid-Range Positive Rate Worth Noting

While ZEREBRO and MAVIA dominate the positive funding landscape, PROMPT offers a more moderate but noteworthy rate at 0.0086% per 8h (9.37% annualised) with a mark of $0.04. This is the only other positive funding rate in today's dataset that exceeds single-digit annualised territory, and it presents a different risk profile than the ultra-high-yield plays. PROMPT's 9.37% annualised is in line with what DeFi lending protocols offer on bluechip collateral, but it comes with perp futures exposure rather than smart contract risk. For traders who are already long PROMPT spot as part of their portfolio, selling the spot and replacing it with a long perp position on Hyperliquid effectively earns an additional 9.37% on the same directional exposure—a synthetic carry enhancement. Cross-exchange, Binance and Bybit both list PROMPT perps at approximately 0.006% per 8h (6.57% annualised), creating a 2.80% annualised spread for the long Hyperliquid / short Binance cross-exchange arbitrage. This is a thin spread and likely only worthwhile for traders already running infrastructure on both venues who can add PROMPT to an existing arbitrage pipeline with minimal marginal cost. The more compelling use case is the carry overlay for existing longs: if you hold PROMPT and believe in its trajectory, replacing spot with perps and collecting 9.37% annualised in funding is a straightforward yield enhancement. The risk is that PROMPT's funding rate could flip negative if sentiment shifts, but at $0.04 mark and moderate positioning, the rate appears stable in the near term. Tangerine's real-time rate feed shows PROMPT's funding has been positive for three consecutive 8h periods, suggesting a persistent long-bias rather than a single anomalous payment. For context on how moderate positive rates can suddenly spike, yesterday's MEGA Perp Spotlight: 14.36% Funding Rate Setup & Outlook May 1 documented MEGA's jump from sub-5% to over 14% within 24 hours.

Cross-Exchange Arbitrage Mechanics: Hyperliquid vs CEX Spreads

The funding rate dislocations visible today are fundamentally cross-exchange arbitrage opportunities that exist because perp DEXs and CEXs serve different user bases with different risk appetites and leverage behaviours. Hyperliquid, as the dominant perp DEX, consistently shows higher positive funding on momentum assets like ZEREBRO and MAVIA because its user base is heavily retail and meme-coin oriented—traders willing to pay steep premiums for leveraged long exposure. CEXs like Binance, Bybit, and OKX have more balanced order flows with institutional market makers who quickly arbitrage away extreme rates. This structural difference is the alpha: Hyperliquid overpays longs relative to CEXs on hot assets, and overcharges shorts (pays them more) on assets with negative sentiment. The mechanics of capturing this are straightforward but operationally demanding. A trader needs accounts on Hyperliquid and at least one CEX, capital deployed on both venues, and the ability to monitor funding rates continuously. This is where Tangerine adds significant value: instead of manually checking ten different exchange interfaces, Tangerine aggregates all funding rates across perp DEXs (Hyperliquid, Aster, Lighter, Vest, Bluefin, Paradex, EdgeX, WOOFi Pro, Hibachi, Pacifica) and CEXs (Binance, Bybit, OKX, BingX, Bitget, KuCoin) in a single dashboard, showing you exactly where the best receive rate and the best pay rate live for every asset. For today's ZEREBRO trade, that means seeing in real-time that Hyperliquid pays 118.78% to longs while Binance charges only 78.66% to longs—or that BLAST shorts on Hyperliquid collect 20.59% while Binance shorts collect only 13.14%. Execution requires careful attention to margin: on Hyperliquid, margin is posted in USDC, while on Binance it is in USDT. Cross-margin and isolated margin settings affect how much capital is required and how liquidation risk is managed. Traders should also account for the 8h funding payment timing differences—Hyperliquid pays at UTC 00:00, 08:00, and 16:00, while Binance and Bybit may have different schedules, meaning the arbitrageur must track both clocks. Gas fees on Hyperliquid are negligible (it operates on its own L1), but withdrawal times and bridge risk must be considered when moving capital between venues.

Risk Factors: Why 118% Funding Rates Don't Last

Every experienced crypto derivatives trader knows that triple-digit annualised funding rates are self-liquidating. The very mechanism that creates them—overcrowded longs paying premiums—also attracts arbitrageurs whose entry normalizes the rate. ZEREBRO at 118.78% annualised will not stay there for long. Historical data from similar spikes shows that rates above 100% annualised tend to decay within 24-72 hours as carry traders enter and shorts are incentivized to provide liquidity. The decay pattern is usually exponential: the rate halves roughly every 12-16 hours as capital flows in. This means that the window for capturing the full 118.78% is extremely narrow—traders entering now might realistically capture one or two 8h payments at or near the current rate before it compresses to the 50-70% range, and then further to the 20-30% range where it may stabilize if momentum persists. Another critical risk is basis risk: when you are long a perp on Hyperliquid and short a perp on Binance, you are not perfectly delta-neutral because the two perp prices can diverge. If ZEREBRO rallies sharply, the mark prices on both exchanges will rise, but they may not rise by the same amount, creating a temporary PnL mismatch that could trigger margin calls on one leg before the other. This basis risk is magnified on micro-cap assets like ZEREBRO ($0.03 mark) and MAVIA ($0.04 mark) where a single large order can move the market 5-10%. Additionally, there is platform risk: Hyperliquid has experienced temporary halts during extreme volatility in past cycles, and a halt during a rapid ZEREBRO move could leave the arbitrageur unhedged on one side. CEXs carry their own risks—Binance and Bybit have both experienced API outages during high-volume periods. The prudent approach is to size positions conservatively, maintain significant margin buffers (at least 2x the minimum maintenance margin on both legs), and use Tangerine to monitor rate convergence in real-time so you can exit the trade before the rate compresses to unprofitable levels. For traders who experienced yesterday's YZY -384% rate collapse, the lesson is fresh: extreme rates reverse violently, and position management matters more than entry timing.

Building a Portfolio Carry Strategy Across Perp DEXs

Rather than chasing a single high-yield asset like ZEREBRO, the most sophisticated carry traders build portfolio-level strategies that combine multiple funding streams to generate consistent, diversified returns. Today's rate landscape offers a clean framework for this approach. On the positive side, ZEREBRO (118.78% annualised) and MAVIA (116.69% annualised) offer high-yield but high-risk carry, while PROMPT (9.37% annualised) offers lower yield with lower risk. On the negative side, BLAST (-20.59%), STABLE (-19.26%), and ALT (-18.09%) offer high short-side carry with micro-cap execution risk, while ICP (-8.39%), WLD (-8.49%), and IP (-10.93%) offer moderate short-side carry with institutional-grade liquidity. A balanced portfolio might allocate 20% of carry capital to ZEREBRO/MAVIA longs (hedged on Binance/Bybit), 20% to BLAST/STABLE/ALT shorts (hedged on CEX longs), and 60% to ICP/WLD/IP shorts (hedged on Binance/OKX longs), with PROMPT longs as a tactical overlay. This portfolio would generate a blended carry yield of approximately 15-20% annualised with significantly lower volatility than any single-asset carry trade. The key to executing this at scale is real-time rate monitoring across all venues, which is precisely what Tangerine provides. By aggregating funding rates from every major perp DEX and CEX, Tangerine lets carry traders see their entire portfolio's funding income in one view, identify when a rate is compressing on one venue (signaling it is time to rotate capital), and spot new opportunities as they emerge. The perp DEX aggregator model is particularly powerful for carry strategies because DEXs often show wider rate dislocations than CEXs—their user bases are smaller and more directional, creating persistent mispricings that take longer to correct. As Web3 derivatives infrastructure matures and venues like Aster, Lighter, and Bluefin grow their liquidity, the number of cross-exchange arbitrage opportunities will only increase, making Tangerine's comprehensive rate comparison an indispensable tool for any serious crypto derivatives trader running funding rate strategies in 2026 and beyond.

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