How to use SpreadBoard

The idea in one paragraph

The same asset can trade at different prices across venues and market types. A common hedge buys the cheaper leg and shorts or sells the expensive leg with matched underlying exposure. The trade has two separate theses: funding may remain favourable, and the basis may converge enough to capture after costs. Either thesis can fail.

delta neutral is a target, not an automatic property of having two legs. Normalise base quantity after contract multipliers, token scaling and quote denomination, then monitor hedge drift. The hedge reduces common direction risk; it does not remove mark divergence, liquidation, funding, venue, identity or execution risk. Convergence is not guaranteed.

How to read a row on the board

• Edge % -- how far apart the two prices are right now. Bigger is better, but see the warnings below.
• Funding -- a fee paid every few hours between longs and shorts. A positive number on your route means you get paid while you wait. This is often worth more than the gap itself.
• APR -- what that funding works out to per year if it stayed the same. It may change at the next settlement, so treat it as a rate snapshot, not a promise.
• 24h volume -- what the thinner leg of the route trades in a day. A big edge on a market that trades almost nothing is not a real opportunity. It is not order-book depth: the scan only probes $500, so treat it as a size sanity check, not a fill guarantee.
• Age -- how old the quote is. Older quotes are less reliable.
• D / W -- whether deposits and withdrawals are open. SHUT means you cannot move the coin, which kills any trade that needs a transfer.
• ? -- we have not confirmed that both venues list the same underlying token. Check the contract yourself before trusting the number.

Before your first trade

1. Start small. Do the whole workflow with an amount you can lose. Trade one is for learning identity, order, transfer and close mechanics.
2. Normalise both legs. Match underlying exposure after contract multipliers and verify the exact token, chain and market symbols.
3. Use low leverage, but do not call 1x safe. 1x can still be liquidated when one venue's mark or margin moves adversely.
4. Fund each venue separately. Each venue must carry its own collateral plus a reserve; profit held elsewhere is not margin here.
5. Open both legs quickly. The entry gap creates extra exposure, but route, funding, basis and liquidation risk continue after both are open.
6. Record the exact entry. Save symbols, normalised quantities, fills, fees, funding and basis so exit PnL can be reconciled.
7. Stress the reserve. Compare liquidation distance with observed adverse basis widening, leg volatility and fee/funding shocks. History is evidence, not a prediction.

Futures / Futures

The same underlying asset has different futures prices on two venues. You open the long and short together only after normalising both contracts to the same underlying exposure.

How you do it

1. Find a row on the Futures-Futures tab and verify the exact symbols, underlying asset and quote currency.
2. Read each contract size and multiplier. Equal contract counts are not necessarily equal exposure.
3. Open the cheaper contract long and the more expensive contract short with matched underlying exposure.
4. Monitor both venue marks, funding payments, margin reserves and hedge drift independently.
5. Close both legs under a written plan. Profit exists only if captured convergence and net funding exceed every fee and loss.

Where the money comes from

Two separate theses can contribute: basis convergence captured between entry and exit, and net funding actually received while holding. The opening gap itself is not realised profit.

What can go wrong

• Match underlying exposure. Apply contract multipliers, scaling and quantity precision; otherwise the hedge carries direction risk.
• Each venue must carry its own collateral. Profit on the other leg does not automatically protect a venue nearing liquidation.
• 1x can still be liquidated. Mark-price divergence, fees and an adverse basis move can exhaust one venue before the combined hedge recovers.
• Funding can flip and start costing you instead of paying you. Check the funding column, not just the spread.
• The gap can widen and may never converge on your timetable. Size the reserve from liquidation distance, adverse basis history and leg volatility, not an APR headline.

Futures / Spot

The futures price and the ordinary (spot) price of the same coin have drifted apart. You buy the cheap side and sell the expensive side.

How you do it

1. Find a row on the Futures-Spot tab and confirm both legs refer to the same token or contract.
2. If futures are more expensive, buy spot and short futures with matched underlying exposure after the futures multiplier is applied.
3. If spot is more expensive, the reverse needs borrowable spot or pre-owned inventory. Beginners should treat an unproven short as blocked.
4. Track the futures mark, spot reference, funding and hedge quantity. Perpetual futures have no settlement date forcing the gap shut.
5. Close both sides under your plan; convergence is not guaranteed and partial convergence can be outweighed by funding, fees or slippage.

Where the money comes from

Possible return comes from net funding that actually settles and basis convergence captured at exit. Either can be positive, negative or too small to cover costs.

What can go wrong

• You actually own the coin on the spot side. It must sit on that exchange.
• Match underlying exposure after contract multipliers and quantity precision, or you retain price direction risk.
• Fund the futures venue independently. A rising spot asset can profit while its short futures leg is liquidated elsewhere.
• Funding is not guaranteed. It is reset every few hours and can turn negative.
• Check the coin is the same coin. Some exchanges list a different token under the same ticker.

Futures / DEX

A spot token on-chain and a futures contract trade at different prices. The typical beginner route is long DEX spot and short futures, with exact identity and matched exposure proved first.

How you do it

1. Find a row on the Futures-DEX tab.
2. Verify the chain, token contract, pool and futures symbol. A ticker match alone is not identity proof.
3. For the typical beginner route, buy DEX spot and short futures with matched underlying exposure after applying the futures multiplier.
4. Selling spot on a DEX requires inventory; pre-positioned inventory must be pre-owned or borrowed before the DEX can be treated as the short leg.
5. Check the $500 matched VWAP, pool depth, gas and price impact for the exact direction; it is evidence for that probe, not a guaranteed fill.
6. Keep wallet assets and futures collateral independently funded, then close both legs only under the written exit plan.

Where the money comes from

Possible return comes from net funding that actually settles plus basis convergence captured at exit. Either thesis can reverse, and gas, price impact and transfer friction can consume both.

What can go wrong

• Check the contract address, not the name. Anyone can create a token called anything. Our board marks routes where we have not confirmed the token identity with a ?.
• Gas fees are paid in the chain's own coin and come out of your profit.
• Slippage. The displayed $500 matched VWAP does not prove your larger order or later exit price.
• You need a wallet and an exit path. Confirm the exact token can be received, sold and transferred on the selected chain.
• Collateral is separate. Wallet value cannot automatically rescue a futures account approaching liquidation.

Very large spreads

You will sometimes see raw observed price differences of 20%, 50%, even over 100%. They are shown deliberately as research leads, not proof that the same asset is tradeable at both prices. A large row may be brief, thin, stale, identity-mismatched or impossible to execute.

But a very large gap is also the shape a mistake makes. Before trading one, check three things: that both venues list the same token (watch for the ? marker), that there is real depth behind the quote, and that you can actually get in and out -- deposits and withdrawals open, and a way to close both legs. If any of those fails, the number is not money.

The honest warnings

• SpreadBoard is a research tool. It does not place trades, hold your money, or tell you what to buy.
• A displayed spread can disappear before you finish opening both legs.
• Fees, funding, slippage and withdrawal costs all come out of your profit. Work them out before you enter, not after.
• Nothing here is financial advice. If you are unsure, trade smaller than you think you should.