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 means the perpetual is trading below spot — comparatively rare for Bitcoin, and usually seen alongside heavy short positioning or forced selling.
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.