Funding rates are a crucial, yet often misunderstood, component of cryptocurrency perpetual swap markets. Their primary function is to align the perpetual contract price with the underlying asset's spot price, a role that is vital for market stability. While funding rates serve as an important gauge of market sentiment, their volatility can introduce significant security risks, including unexpected liquidations and systemic instability. New protocols, such as Ethena, are leveraging these rates to create innovative financial products by capturing yield from a market's bullishness. Looking forward, the tokenization of funding rates could democratize access to these yield streams, transforming them into a new class of financial primitives within the broader DeFi ecosystem.