TraderHub reference desk

Term Structure

BTC / ETH futures curve with annualized basis vs the perpetual. · deribit

Read this board

How is the futures market pricing time, leverage demand and carry for BTC and ETH?

Expiry futures compared with the perpetual contract. Curve shape is a funding and positioning clue, not a standalone directional forecast.

Hub refresh: 5 minutes · continuously traded marketJSON /api/reference/term-structure ↗Source: Deribit API ↗

source · deribitassembled · 2026-07-28 08:26:43Z

How to read

↗Contango means later futures trade above the perpetual; backwardation means they trade below it.
↗Annualized basis makes different expiries comparable, but the actual holding-period return is much smaller for short tenors.

Do not over-read

!Perpetual is used as the spot proxy here. It can deviate from cash spot during stressed funding.
!Basis can reflect funding, collateral, counterparty and liquidity effects—not only price expectations.

Field guide

Perpetual

A futures contract without expiry, kept near spot through funding.

Used as the curve anchor on this board.

Contango

Later futures trade above the anchor.

Often associated with positive carry and demand for leveraged long exposure.

Backwardation

Later futures trade below the anchor.

Can reflect stress, scarce near-term exposure or negative carry.

Annualized basis

Expiry premium or discount scaled to a one-year rate.

Comparable across tenors; not the actual return earned over the contract’s remaining days.

BTCPerp 63,405Contango

26-07-29 —26-07-30 —26-07-31 —26-08-01 —26-08-07 +1.9%26-08-14 +0.6%26-08-28 +3.9%26-09-25 +3.8%26-12-25 +4.1%27-03-26 +4.1%27-06-25 +4.2%chips = annualized basis vs perp

ETHPerp 1,881Contango

Loading…