MethodologyHow DeFi Rate measures prediction markets and rates

One method for every page: what each number means, how figures are combined, and how they’re labeled when they can’t be combined.

Owned by Cheryle Shepstone, Director of Content · Version 3.3 · Updated Sep 23, 2026 · Version history

Price states

Every price on the site is exactly one of these, and it’s labeled that way on the button, in the table, in the source record and in the CSV.

Price to buyThe venue’s current asking price: what one contract costs right now, before fees.

Last tradeThe most recent completed trade. It may not be available to buy now.

StaleOur data provider hasn’t refreshed this quote recently. Shown, never averaged.

UnavailableThis venue doesn’t list the market, or it isn’t in our feed.

Single venueOnly one venue lists this outcome, so the figure isn’t an average.

ConstructedNo single contract asks this question; the price is built from several of the venue’s contracts.

UnlinkedOur feed has a price but no contract ID or link, so we can’t verify it. Shown, never averaged or ranked.

Language

We use present-tense buying language (“$100 on Kalshi at the ask pays $156”) only for a real asking price. A last trade is described as history: “At the last traded price, $100 would return $156 if correct, before fees.” Probabilities are rounded to whole percents, except that a live market never shows 0% or 100%: below half a percent it’s shown as “<1%.”

What a source record shows

Every number links to a source record. The frame is the same everywhere; the evidence depends on what the number is.

Prediction contractsThe exact outcome and side, bid, ask and last trade, when each quote was read, and a link to the contract and its settlement rules.

Constructed and derived figuresEvery input contract, the formula, the weighting, and anything left out. A figure built from several contracts is never labeled as one venue’s price.

Funding ratesThe exchange and instrument, the rate as the exchange quotes it and how often it pays, the same rate per 8 hours and per year, who pays whom, and whether the exchange reports open interest (only those that do are in weighted averages).

Lending and borrowing ratesBorrow or supply, the rate basis (APR includes fees; “interest” and APY don’t), the amount, LTV and term tier, fees, and whether we checked the rate on the provider’s own site. A rate reported by someone else says so, in the citation too.

PromotionsThe reward, what you must do to get it, where it’s available, cash-out rules, and when an editor last verified the terms.

Legal and editorial factsThe primary document (docket, filing or order), the authority, the status, the latest activity date and when we verified it.

MeasuresAggregates such as traded volume: the data source, the window and the definition.

When a number is out of date

Every source has a refresh schedule and a limit. Past the limit, a number is labeled, not shown as current.

Source	Refreshed	Out of date after	What you see
Prediction-market quotes	every 2 minutes	30 minutes	labeled Stale; never averaged or called lowest
Perp funding rates	on each exchange’s schedule (1–8 hours)	2 hours	shown with its time; left out of today’s rankings
DeFi lending rates	hourly	3 hours	shown with its time; left out of rankings
Lender schedules and promotions	checked by an editor every morning	36 hours without a check	shows its last verification date as a warning
Legal records	dockets checked twice daily	72 hours	shows its last check date
Prediction-market volume	daily	36 hours	shows its data date

Unknowns and qualifications

A value we don’t have is shown as unavailable and stored as empty, never as zero. A headline figure carries its coverage with it (for example, “weighted by open interest from 5 reporting exchanges · 10 tracked”), and a figure we couldn’t verify names who reported it, on the page, in the citation, in the CSV and on the share image.

Odds pages

PricesEach venue is priced at the midpoint of its bid and ask where our feed has both, otherwise at its last trade, and every source record says which.

AveragesHeadline figures average the venues that list the same outcome. A venue without a single matching contract is labeled “constructed” or left out.

Timestamps“Data observed” is when prices were read; “Updated” is when an editor last changed the text.

Stale quotesQuotes our data provider marks stale are shown but never averaged.

Activity, not depth24-hour dollars traded is recent activity, not how much you can buy at a price.

Rates pages

UnitsEvery rate is shown as a percent per year, so venues with different payment intervals can be compared.

AveragesAverages are stated on the page as simple or weighted, and every underlying rate is in the downloadable table.

Timestamps“Rates observed” is when we read them; they change on each venue’s own schedule.

What’s excludedTrading fees, spreads, gas and liquidation risk aren’t included in these rates.

Volume data

DefinitionVolume is the dollar value of contracts traded, counted once per trade.

Windows30-day figures compare with the 30 days before; the latest day is partial until it closes.

VenuesKalshi, Polymarket’s international exchange and Polymarket US are counted separately.

CategoriesCategories use each venue’s own market labels, grouped by our data provider.

Promotions and reviews

VerificationAn editor opens each offer and its full terms every morning and records the time.

ChangesChanges to amount, requirement or eligibility are logged with a date.

FilingsPrograms filed with the CFTC are labeled with their status; “10-day review” means not yet active.

CommissionDeFi Rate is paid when you sign up through our links; the default order is value to you.

Litigation tracker

RecordsOne record per distinct lawsuit, court case or regulatory action, each linked to a docket, filed document or official order.

CountingSeparately filed lawsuits stay separate even when consolidated; appeals attach to the original case; amicus briefs don’t add records.

UpdatesEach record shows its latest verified activity and the date it was verified.

CorrectionsMissing or wrong records are corrected with a dated note.

Citations and exports

Each figure’s displayed number, explanation, citation, CSV row and share image are generated from the same record. Historical series carry their own source: a series built from one venue is labeled with that venue even when the current figure averages two. Snapshots are frozen copies: the page, its CSVs and its source records at one observation time, never overwritten.

Version history

Version 3.3, Sep 23, 2026: Freshness limits published for every source. Record families: funding, lending, offers, facts and measures get their own evidence fields. Unknown values are null, never zero. Unverified third-party figures carry their attribution into citations. Seat and bundle math keep independents and each contract leg separate.
Version 3.2, Sep 22, 2026: Price states unified across buttons, tables, source records and CSVs. Last trades described as history, not as a price to buy.
Version 3.1, Sep 18, 2026: Separate observation and edit times; stale quotes shown but never averaged.

Source records by page

Data license: how to reuse our numbers