How does overnight funding work on crypto CFDs?
Verdict
- Overnight funding is a financing adjustment applied to a leveraged crypto CFD for each night it stays open; at Pepperstone, our pick in Australia, you see the long and short rates in each symbol's details in the platform.
- Funding is usually worked out on the full position value, not just the margin you put up, so at 1:2 retail leverage it can be large relative to your deposit over long holds.
- Pepperstone's perpetual CFDs use a different model: a funding rate set weekly in advance and applied daily at 5 pm New York time.
- Pepperstone's swap-free account is not available to Australian residents; Australia is not among its 23 eligible countries.
A crypto CFD has no expiry, so the provider charges (or occasionally credits) a financing amount for each night you hold it. Day trades closed before the rollover avoid it entirely; swing trades held for weeks can find it adds up to more than the spread. Here is how it works and where to find Pepperstone's numbers.
How Pepperstone applies funding to crypto CFDs
When you hold a crypto CFD with Pepperstone Group Limited (ASIC, AFSL 414530) past the daily rollover, the platform posts a swap to your account, with separate rates for long and short positions. Pepperstone doesn't publish its crypto swap rates in a table we could verify, so the reliable place to see them is the symbol specification in MT5, MT4, cTrader or the Pepperstone platform. Trading costs are otherwise simple: no commission on crypto, and average spreads of 15.15 on BTCUSD and 2.01 on ETHUSD on Razor.
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The calculation in plain terms
Most financing on leveraged CFDs is worked out like this:
- Take the full value of the position (coins × price), not the margin.
- Apply the provider's annual financing rate for long or short positions.
- Divide by the number of days in the year to get one night's charge.
- Repeat for every night the position is open.
Why it matters more on crypto
- Crypto trades at weekends, so ask whether funding applies to every calendar night rather than just business days.
- Leverage hides the size: a $10,000 BTC position needs only $5,000 margin at 1:2, but funding is charged on the $10,000.
- Rates change. Check the symbol details again before rolling a position for another week.
- Short positions can be charged too; don't assume a short earns interest.
Crypto CFD funding vs perpetual CFD funding at Pepperstone
| Crypto CFDs | Perpetual CFDs | |
|---|---|---|
| Products | BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP and other coins | Indices, oil, gold, single stocks (no crypto listed) |
| How the cost is set | Swap rate shown per symbol in the platform | Funding rate set weekly in advance |
| When it applies | Each night a position is open | Daily at 5 pm New York |
| Commission | None | 0.015% per side (0.03% on GOLD and MSTR perps) |
Can you avoid funding?
Only by closing before the rollover. Swap-free accounts replace funding with other fees, and Pepperstone's isn't open to Australian residents. For context, IC Markets' swap-free account on its global site replaces swap with a flat holding fee, listed at $41.85 per lot on BTCUSD after a grace period, which shows that swap-free does not mean free. Capital.com (ASIC, AFSL 513393) offers swap-free accounts only to clients in a list of Middle East and North African countries, not Australia.
Sources
Do I pay overnight funding on a crypto CFD I close the same day?
No. Funding applies only to positions still open at the daily rollover.
Where can I see Pepperstone's crypto funding rates?
In the symbol specification of your trading platform, which shows the long and short swap for each coin.
Is funding charged on my margin or my full position?
Typically on the full position value, so check the platform's swap figure against your position size.
Holding leveraged crypto CFDs overnight adds financing costs to an already high-risk product, and losses can build quickly. This explanation is general and not financial advice; confirm current rates in your platform.