Going long is the familiar direction: buy, and gain if the asset appreciates. On the spot market a long position is simply ownership, with no ongoing cost and no forced exit. Taken with leverage through a futures contract, it carries a liquidation price below the entry and, on a perpetual contract, a recurring funding payment.
When most of the market is positioned long, the funding rate on perpetual contracts turns positive and longs pay shorts to hold the position. Heavily one-sided long positioning is also what makes downside moves accelerate, because each liquidation forces a sale that pushes the price into the next set of liquidation levels.
Does a long position cost anything to hold?
On spot, no. On a perpetual futures contract, yes — funding is exchanged periodically, and when the market is net long that payment flows from longs to shorts.
Last updated October 17, 2026