Lightervs
Phemex
Funding rates, fees, liquidity and airdrop status compared for perpetual-futures traders.
Funding setups between these venues
Across 60 liquid markets shared by Lighter and Phemex, the best funding setup over the past 7 days is $PONS (long Phemex, short Lighter): it paid 59.6% APR, 53.4% after costs, and held 71% of the time.
60 common liquid markets. Ranked by what the setup actually paid over 7 days after entry and exit costs — not by the instantaneous APR.
“7d avg” is the funding spread the pair actually paid over the last 7 days. “After costs” subtracts taker fees for opening and closing both legs over a 7-day hold. “Holds” is the share of hours the spread kept the same sign and at least 5% APR.
| Lighter | Phemex | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | DEX | CEX |
| Taker fee | 0%✓ | 0.06% |
| Maker fee | 0%✓ | 0.01% |
| Open Interest | $624.8M | $1.09B✓ |
| 24h Volume | $817.0M✓ | $496.7M |
| Avg Funding APR | 14.27% | 5.09% |
| Markets | 183✓ | 120 |
| Airdrop / token | Listed | Listed |
Lighter and Phemex are both perpetual-futures venues tracked on ORBIT. On fees, Lighter is cheaper (0% vs 0.06% taker). On liquidity, Phemex is deeper with $1.09B open interest, which means less slippage at size.
For a funding-arbitrage trader the practical answer is rarely “one or the other” — you often use both, going long on whichever venue has the lower funding for a given asset and short on the other. Open the Funding Screener to see where Lighter and Phemex diverge right now, then verify the pair in the backtester.
Frequently asked questions
- Which funding setup between Lighter and Phemex pays most?
- Across 60 liquid markets shared by Lighter and Phemex, the best funding setup over the past 7 days is $PONS (long Phemex, short Lighter): it paid 59.6% APR, 53.4% after costs, and held 71% of the time. Ranking is by the 7-day payout after costs, not by the instantaneous APR.
- Is Lighter or Phemex cheaper?
- Lighter charges 0% taker / 0% maker; Phemex charges 0.06% taker / 0.01% maker. Lighter has the lower taker fee, which matters most for funding arbitrage since entries and exits are taker orders.
- Which has deeper liquidity, Lighter or Phemex?
- Lighter has $624.8M open interest across 183 markets; Phemex has $1.09B across 120. Phemex is deeper, which means lower slippage at size.
- Can I run funding arbitrage between Lighter and Phemex?
- Yes — when an asset's funding diverges between the two, go long on the lower-funding venue and short on the higher one. Find live divergences on the ORBIT screener and backtest the exact pair before sizing it.