How Bitfinex Lending Interest Works: Formula, Payouts, Fees
Contents
Bitfinex lending interest accrues by the second and is paid once a day, and what you receive is net of Bitfinex's fee. Here's the calculation, using the formula from Bitfinex's documentation.
The official formula
Interest paid to the lender:
amount × (rate ÷ 100) × (seconds ÷ 86,400) × 0.85
The rate is the daily rate in percent, seconds is how long the money was actually lent out, and the 0.85 at the end is what's left after the 15% fee.
Two examples
Lend 1,000 USD at 0.03% a day for a full day: 1,000 × 0.0003 × 1 × 0.85 = 0.255 USD.
The same loan repaid after 6 hours: 1,000 × 0.0003 × 0.25 × 0.85, or about 0.064 USD.
The fee: 15% or 18%
For a regular offer, Bitfinex keeps 15% of the interest. For a hidden offer (one that doesn't appear on the public funding book), it's 18%. Holding LEO tokens can reduce the fee; check Bitfinex's fee page for the current discount.
The Margin Funding section of the Bitfinex fee page, captured October 1, 2026
This fee goes to Bitfinex, and you pay it whether or not you use a lending tool.
When interest is paid
Interest is paid into your funding wallet once a day, around 01:30 UTC.
When a borrower repays early
A borrower who repays by hand pays at least one hour of interest. The lender gets that hour, minus the 15% fee. After the first hour, interest is counted by the second.
Why your daily interest keeps changing
- Borrowers repay early, and the gap between money coming back and going out again earns nothing.
- Every loan fills at a different rate, and old and new loans are mixed together.
- Loans at FRR or FRR Delta Variable change rate every hour along with FRR.
- Interest lands in your funding wallet and earns nothing until it's offered again.
From daily rate to real APR
The daily rate × 365 is the headline APR. Your real return is lower once you take out the fee and idle time.
For example, 0.03% a day is a 10.95% headline APR, or about 9.3% after the 15% fee. If the money sits idle a tenth of the time, you're down to roughly 8.4%.
When you compare lending tools, the APR after fees and idle time tells you more than the rates they offer at. For how FRR is calculated, see What is FRR.