Crypto Futures Basis Tracker (Contango/Backwardation)

Track the futures basis (premium/discount) between quarterly futures and spot for BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB, XRP and 5 more pairs. Monitor cash and carry spreads, contango backwardation signals, and annualized carry trade returns. No API key required. $0.005/run.

Keywords: futures basis, cash and carry, contango backwardation, basis trade crypto, annualized carry rate, BTC futures premium tracker

⚡ Run in 30 seconds

Click Start with default settings — returns the current basis premium %, annualized carry rate, and contango/backwardation status for BTC, ETH, SOL, and more. Spot the best cash-and-carry trade opportunities in seconds. No API key required.

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What Is Futures Basis?

Basis = (Futures Price - Spot Price) / Spot Price × 100

• Positive basis (contango) — futures trade at a premium to spot. Normal in bull markets. Enables the classic cash-and-carry trade (buy spot, short futures, capture the basis as yield).
• Negative basis (backwardation) — futures trade below spot. Signals strong spot demand or bearish conviction. Reverse-carry arbitrage becomes possible.

Annualized Basis

Raw basis % is hard to compare across different contract expiries. The actor annualizes it:

Annualized Basis % = (basis_pct / days_to_expiry) × 365

A BTC Q3 contract trading at 2% basis with 45 days to expiry = ~16% annualized carry.

Example Output

{
  "base": "BTC",
  "spot_price": 61670.64,
  "perp_price": 61654.65,
  "spot_perp_basis_pct": -0.026,
  "market_structure": "contango",
  "nearest_expiry": "2026-09-25",
  "nearest_basis_pct": 0.75,
  "nearest_annualized_pct": 3.4,
  "contracts": [
    {
      "symbol": "BTCUSD_260925",
      "expiry": "2026-09-25",
      "mark_price": 62046.32,
      "index_price": 61584.26,
      "basis_pct": 0.75,
      "annualized_basis_pct": 3.41,
      "market_structure": "contango"
    },
    {
      "symbol": "BTCUSD_261225",
      "expiry": "2026-12-25",
      "mark_price": 62599.58,
      "basis_pct": 1.65,
      "annualized_basis_pct": 3.47,
      "market_structure": "contango"
    }
  ],
  "fetched_at": "2026-07-08T15:00:00Z"
}

Summary (Key Value Store)

{
  "contango_count": 8,
  "backwardation_count": 2,
  "top_carry_opportunities": [
    {"base": "SOL", "nearest_expiry": "2026-09-25", "annualized_basis_pct": 12.4},
    {"base": "BNB", "nearest_expiry": "2026-09-25", "annualized_basis_pct": 8.1}
  ],
  "backwardation_pairs": ["XRP", "DOGE"]
}

Trading Use Cases

Cash-and-carry arbitrage (contango):

• Buy spot, short nearest quarterly futures
• Capture annualized basis % as risk-free yield
• Unwind at expiry when prices converge

Backwardation signals:

• Futures < spot = spot demand outpacing leveraged longs
• Often seen during capitulation or strong accumulation phases

Term structure analysis:

• Compare Q3 vs Q4 basis to infer market sentiment on timeline

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
pairs	array	10 pairs	Base currencies to track (e.g. ["BTC", "ETH", "SOL"])

Pricing

• $0.005 per run (flat rate, regardless of pairs)
• Typical runtime: ~2 seconds

Data Source

Binance COIN-M Futures API (dapi.binance.com) — public, no authentication required. Covers all quarterly and perpetual contracts for BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB, XRP, DOGE, ADA, AVAX, LINK, DOT.

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Why use Crypto Futures Basis Tracker?

1. Cash-and-carry yield optimization — Find the highest annualized basis across 10 pairs. Buy spot, short the nearest quarterly, capture the annualized carry. top_carry_opportunities in SUMMARY surfaces the best spreads instantly.
2. Market structure monitoring — market_structure: "contango" vs "backwardation" per pair classifies whether the market is net bullish/neutral or in capitulation/spot-demand mode without reading charts.
3. Backwardation early detection — backwardation_pairs in the SUMMARY flags coins where futures trade below spot — a historically rare signal associated with strong spot accumulation or short-term bearish conviction.
4. Term structure research — Compare Q3 vs Q4 basis to infer whether the market expects sustained carry or is pricing in convergence. Flattening term structure = carry trade crowding.
5. Automated carry trade signals — Schedule hourly runs and trigger alerts when annualized basis crosses your threshold (e.g. > 10%) for actionable carry trade setups.

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Related actors

• Long/Short OI Aggregator — OI data to contextualize who is holding the short side of basis trades
• Binance Futures Sentiment — Funding rates and sentiment to pair with basis premium signals
• Crypto Derivatives Exchange Tracker — 20+ exchange OI breakdown to see where basis trades are most active

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