How higher OI helps funding rate arbitrage capacity?

• Capacity and scalability. Deep markets let neutral funds run larger hedged books without materially moving prices, so modeled carry is more likely to match realized carry.

• Richer, steadier cash flows. In perpetual futures, funding payments flow between longs and shorts to keep the contract anchored to spot. When participation is heavy, funding prints are frequent and more reliably harvested by delta‑neutral books.

• Cross‑venue dispersion. Different venues compute mark prices and funding slightly differently, so when OI and flow surge, funding and mark‑premium differences widen. That creates spread opportunities for market‑neutral long‑shorts.

Microstructure edges. High OI periods bring predictable event cadences, for example hourly or 8‑hour funding prints and end‑of‑interval inventory balancing, which systematic strategies can time.