KuCoin has activated an automatic funding settlement rule for USDT- and USDC-margined perpetual contracts (derivatives with no expiry) from 08:00 UTC on Aug. 17, shifting any contract that reaches its funding cap or floor into hourly settlement from the next period without a separate notice. The change affects settlement frequency rather than the funding formula, caps, floors or open positions, but it can make funding rate (periodic payments between long and short positions) debits and credits hit balances more often. A contract returns to four-hour settlement from the 37th period only after 36 consecutive hourly readings stay within +/-0.002%, and any hourly reading above that threshold resets the count and keeps the contract in hourly mode. KuCoin's example used a Bitcoin perpetual with plus and minus 0.3% limits, while live data at 20:15 UTC on Aug. 17 showed XBTUSDTM still on an eight-hour interval with a +0.003 cap and -0.003 floor because its funding rate remained inside those limits. Broader active-contract data showed only COTIUSDTM on hourly settlement, a schedule that began July 28 under a separate KuCoin notice, leaving no clear first-day evidence that the new automatic trigger had already activated. For traders, the main shift is timing rather than cumulative cost, which still depends on realized rates, position direction, position size and how long the trade stays open.