Are futures trading above or below spot? The live premium of Bitcoin perpetual futures over spot — plus the annualised carry and a 30-day history.
The futures basis is the gap between the futures price and the spot price of Bitcoin. When futures trade above spot, the basis is positive — a state called contango — and it reflects healthy demand to be long with leverage. When futures trade below spot, the basis is negative (backwardation), which signals fear or aggressive short pressure and is comparatively rare for Bitcoin.
Because the premium decays to zero as contracts converge to spot, a positive basis is effectively a yield. Annualised, it's the return a cash-and-carry trade would capture: buy spot, short futures, and pocket the premium. When that annualised carry is fat, it draws institutional capital into the basis trade — one reason a rich basis and rising open interest often move together.
A steadily positive basis is a sign of a confident, leveraged-long market. An unusually high basis is a caution flag — it means longs are paying a big premium for exposure, and that premium tends to collapse violently during a deleveraging. A flip into negative basis is often a capitulation or extreme-fear signal. Read it alongside funding rates and open interest for the full leverage picture.