Basis Trade

Cash-and-carry arbitrage capturing the price difference between spot and futures. Buy spot, short futures at premium, capture spread as risk-free yield when prices converge at expiry. Direction-neutral. CME BTC basis has reached 20-30% annualised in bullish periods. Drove substantial portion of 2024-2025 BTC ETF inflows — reading 'institutional adoption' as directional missed the basis-trade reality.