Lately, the funding rate has skyrocketed a bit too—seriously—out of control. Someone like me, who looks like a degenerate on the outside, actually has their hands tied by the rules… to put it plainly, there are only two choices: either stand on the counterparty’s side and scrape by on those little funding rates, or just dodge it and don’t go head-to-head with volatility. In the past, when I’d get impulsive and hot-headed, I’d want to fight back. But after I started keeping better records, I realized that extreme funding rates don’t equal an instant reversal. It’s more like “the whole crowd’s emotions are turned up to max”—even when you position yourself against the counterparty, you might still get pinned to the ground and rubbed the wrong way first.

And sure, there are people watching on-chain big transfers and weird movements between exchange hot and cold wallets, shouting “smart money.” I’ll take a quick look too, but I really don’t dare treat it like holy edicts… at most, it’s a reminder that “today is more likely to act crazy.” Now my approach is pretty cautious: if I’m not confident, I cut position sizes or don’t trade at all. If I truly do take the counterparty side, I only use a very small position. If I lose, I’ll just treat it as tuition—don’t turn the notebook into a eulogy. Let’s talk again next time.