Basis in futures contracts
2 Apr 2018 Here are some quick stats about the Bitcoin Futures contract as of March 13th via the CME: Record volume on 3/13 with 3,473 contracts traded ($ Basis in the Futures Market. In the futures market, the difference between the cash price of the commodity and the futures price is the basis. It is a crucial concept for portfolio managers and traders because this relationship between cash and futures prices affects the value of the contracts used in hedging. Basis is basically the difference between the price of a futures contract and the price of its underlying asset. Futures prices reflect fair future value and future price expectation of the underlying asset and that is why futures prices will never be the same as spot price.