Strategy guide
The crypto basis trade, explained
A basis trade captures the gap between a perpetual (or future) and spot. On perps, that gap shows up as funding. Here is how it connects to delta-neutral carry.
Basis, cash-and-carry, and funding
The basis is the difference between a derivative price and spot. Classic cash-and-carry buys spot and sells the future to lock that gap. On perpetuals there is no expiry, so the equivalent carry is paid continuously as the funding rate.
That means a perp basis trade is really a funding trade: you hold offsetting exposure and earn (or pay) funding over time.
- Basis = derivative price minus spot.
- On perps the carry is the funding rate.
- Hold offsetting legs to stay price-neutral.
Running it with funding routes
Instead of spot-vs-future, many traders run a perp-vs-perp version: long the venue paying you to hold and short the venue charging less, capturing the funding spread.
SypherScore ranks those routes and lets you backtest the historical spread before committing capital.
- Perp-vs-perp keeps both legs liquid.
- The spread is the funding difference.
- Backtest before sizing the position.
Is a perp basis trade the same as funding farming?
They are closely related. A delta-neutral perp basis trade earns the funding spread between legs, which is exactly what funding farming does.
Do I need to hold spot for a basis trade?
Not necessarily. A perp-vs-perp route avoids spot custody by pairing offsetting perpetual positions across two venues.