Plain English
Cash-and-carry is the classical basis trade using dated futures (CME, Deribit) instead of perpetuals. Buy spot at $100K, sell the March future at $103K. If you hold both until expiration, the future settles to spot — you pocket the $3K spread, annualized into your yield.
How it actually works
Spot is bought outright; the future is shorted with margin posted at the exchange. The strategy is locked-in profit at expiration regardless of price path. The annualized yield is the basis (spread) divided by the time to expiration. Risks: short squeeze before expiry (forced rebalancing), borrow rate for spot, exchange counterparty risk.
What it means for you
Institutional cash-and-carry on CME crypto futures has typically yielded 5–15% annualized in bull markets, less in bear. Available through prime brokerage and ETF arbitrage flows; for direct retail execution, perp basis is cleaner. Knowing this trade exists is how you understand why ETF flows correlate with futures basis — it is the arbitrage that links them.
Will this information be valuable to you?
Already a member? Send this term to your coach inside the community and tell them exactly what you need help with — we will build a plan around it.
New here? Join the membership, become a student, or sit in on the community. Your starting point is one short call.
Educational content only. Not investment, tax, or legal advice.