$PIPPIN touched a low of 0.273 after continuous decline, then rebounded and oscillated around 0.283. Many people in square discussions speculated that whales would exit and recover losses at this price level, but few actually did the math: assuming whales have been holding positions for over a month, the funding costs accumulated are already substantial. Just covering these costs alone has become an unrealistic hope — unless the coin price goes directly to zero.

What's even more painful is the funding fee mechanism itself. When going long against whales, you must battle continuous selling pressure while being eroded by hourly negative funding rates; going short faces the risk of liquidation traps, and once it rebounds you'll pay double the funding fees. Sideways consolidation is an even bigger pit, as negative funding periods are literally burning money. This is the brutal reality of spot perpetual trading — regardless of whether you predict the direction correctly, funding fees relentlessly erode your profit margins. For retail traders with small to medium positions, just figuring out how to deal with funding fees is exhausting enough.