A cash-and-carry trade buys a coin on the spot market and shorts the same amount in perpetual futures, collecting funding while funding is positive. The two legs cancel out on price, so the return comes from funding and the entry basis. The table on this page shows the best spot and perp pair per coin. For the theory, read what is a cash-and-carry trade.
How it works
- Find a coin with positive funding. When the perpetual trades above spot, longs pay shorts. See what is a funding rate.
- Buy spot at the ask, on the same exchange or another one.
- Short the perpetual in equal size at the bid. You are now delta-neutral.
- Collect funding at every interval while you hold.
- Exit by selling the spot and closing the short, ideally when funding falls or the basis has closed.
Reading the scanner
The scanner covers exchanges where ArbTide collects spot prices, perpetual prices and funding rates together, so venues that publish only one of these are left out.
Choose a holding period (7, 30 or 90 days) above the table. The estimate changes with it, because fees are paid once while funding accrues over time.
- Route: the spot market you buy and the perp you short. A Same exchange badge means both legs sit on one venue, which avoids transfers.
- Est. APR (holding period): the annualized return after basis and fees, if funding stays at its current rate. The line below is the net return over the whole period. Formula: funding APR × days ÷ 365 + basis − fees.
- Funding APR: the perp's current funding annualized (rate ÷ interval hours × 8,760), with the raw rate per interval underneath.
- Basis: (perp bid − spot ask) ÷ spot ask. A positive basis means the perp you short is priced above the spot you buy, which adds to the return when the gap closes. See basis in crypto.
- Fees: taker fees on both legs, entry and exit, at default rates. The line below shows the break-even period: (fees − basis) ÷ funding APR × 365 days.
- 24h volume: trading volume for the coin; markets under $100,000 are excluded.
To judge a row, start with break-even days. For example, assume fees of 0.2%, a basis of 0.05% and funding of 15% APR: break-even is (0.2% − 0.05%) ÷ 15% × 365 ≈ 3.7 days. If the coin's funding history shows the rate has stayed positive for weeks, a short break-even is reassuring. If the rate spiked in the last interval, the Est. APR is unlikely to last. The basis calculator and funding rate calculator let you test your own numbers.
Costs and risks the scanner does not include
- Funding changes: the estimate assumes today's rate for the whole period. Funding resets every interval and can turn negative.
- Short-leg liquidation: a sharp rally raises the margin needed on the short. If the spot sits on another exchange, it cannot cover the loss directly. See what is liquidation.
- Transfers: routes across two exchanges need inventory on both, or withdrawals and network fees to move coins.
- Slippage beyond the top of the order book on entry and exit. See what is slippage.
- Basis at exit: the estimate assumes the basis closes. If the perp trades below spot when you exit, you give back part of the return.
- Exchange risk on every venue holding your capital.
More detail is in arbitrage risks and the methodology.
When it works best
Cash and carry pays best during sustained bullish periods, when many traders hold leveraged longs and funding stays positive for days or weeks. Same-exchange routes on liquid coins are the simplest to run and monitor. Longer holding periods spread the fixed fees over more funding payments, so steady, moderate funding often beats a brief spike. When funding is negative, the mirror trade is reverse cash and carry.