Futures arbitrage is how traders earn a near market-neutral return from the gap between the spot price and the futures price of the same coin.
When Bitcoin trades at $67,000 on the spot market but its futures contract trades at $67,800, that $800 gap — called the basis — is a profit waiting to be locked in. You buy the cheap side, sell the expensive side, and collect the difference as the two prices converge. This guide explains the whole family of futures-arbitrage strategies in plain language, with real numbers, so a beginner can understand exactly where the money comes from — and where the risk hides.
Spot means buying the actual coin right now at today's price — you own the Bitcoin. Futures is a contract to buy or sell that coin at a set price on (or around) a future date. Because a future settles later, its price usually differs slightly from spot. That difference is the raw material of every strategy on this page.
The basis — the number that matters
The basis is simply futures price − spot price. When futures are more expensive than spot (the normal state), the market is in contango and the basis is positive. When futures are cheaper, it is in backwardation and the basis is negative. Futures arbitrage is the business of capturing that basis while staying protected from which way the coin actually moves.
Two markets, two crowds. Spot buyers want the coin today; futures traders are betting on where it will be later, often with leverage. Demand, funding costs, and expectations push the two prices apart. On a big centralized exchange the gap is small; across different exchanges or in volatile weeks it widens. It never stays open forever — at expiry a dated future must equal spot — which is exactly why the trade is reliable: convergence is guaranteed by contract.
| Strategy | What you do | Market risk | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash-and-carry | Buy spot, short a dated future above spot; hold to expiry | Market-neutral | Locking a fixed, known return |
| Spot-futures spread | Trade the basis when it is unusually wide; exit when it narrows | Market-neutral | Active traders, faster cycles |
| Funding-rate (perpetual) | Buy spot, short a perpetual future; collect funding | Market-neutral | Passive, ongoing income |
| Calendar spread | Long one expiry, short another expiry of the same coin | Mostly neutral | Advanced, curve trades |
The first three are the beginner-friendly core, and they are closely related — the perpetual (funding-rate) version is really cash-and-carry without an expiry date. We cover the two dated-futures strategies in depth on their own pages, linked below, and the perpetual version in the funding-rate cluster.
Say BTC spot = $67,000 and the quarterly future = $67,800 (a positive basis of $800, about 1.2%). You buy 1 BTC on the spot market and short 1 BTC of the future. Now you own no directional risk — if BTC crashes to $50,000, your spot loses but your short gains the same amount. At expiry the future settles into spot: the $800 gap collapses to zero and lands in your pocket. That $800 on ~$67,000 tied up for three months annualizes to roughly 4.8% — earned regardless of whether Bitcoin went up, down or sideways.
Why beginners like it
Unlike normal trading, you are not predicting price direction. You are harvesting a structural gap. That makes returns steadier and losses far less dramatic — the trade-off is that the percentages are modest and you need discipline with margin.
The whole game is spotting when the basis is wide enough to be worth trading after fees — and doing it across many coins and exchanges at once. ArbiScreen tracks spot and futures prices across 17 exchanges in real time, shows the live basis and funding rate, and calculates your net return after costs. Explore the live arbitrage scanner or the funding-rate tools.
