CoinDesk
As bitcoin pushed back above $80,000 this month, sophisticated trading firms including Abraxas Capital, Fasanara Capital, and Wintermute have quietly built massive short perpetual futures positions on Hyperliquid, with the three firms collectively holding shorts of 138,569 ETH (about $338 million) and 3,425 BTC (around $265 million), per Lookonchain data. Abraxas alone pulled 73,872 ETH, worth roughly $173 million, off Binance over four days. The positions are not directional bets; they are the short leg of a cash-and-carry, or basis trade, designed to collect yield while staying delta-neutral.
Why it matters
The basis trade works because when funding is positive, longs pay shorts. BTC funding rates currently sit at around 0.01% per 8 hours, or roughly 0.0109% per hour, with annualized yields running into the high single digits. Aegis put precise numbers on the recovery: the 30-day average BTC perpetual funding rate reached 6.7% annualized on August 24, while the 7-day average hit 8.7%. 21shares Capital Markets noted this week that while the BTC basis remains rich, funding itself is at standard levels, suggesting the trade is attractive but not overheated. The economics matter because for months, this income channel had been shut. From February through July, the annualized perpetual funding rate spent much of the period compressed or outright negative as the market sold off from all-time highs above $120,000 and leveraged longs were steadily unwound.
Market impact
CME data tells the institutional side of the same story. Open interest in CME bitcoin futures climbed from roughly 87,000 BTC to 122,000 BTC in recent weeks, and CryptoQuant shows hedge funds on the venue have unusually flipped net long, breaking the structural bias basis traders usually keep in place. That shift suggests some institutional books are layering outright bullish bets on top of the carry. Aggregated open interest in ETH perpetuals has climbed to $14 billion, the highest in several months.
Frequently asked questions
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What is the crypto basis trade?
The basis trade, also called cash-and-carry, involves holding a spot crypto position while simultaneously shorting an equivalent amount via perpetual futures. The two legs offset, leaving the trader delta-neutral, while collecting funding rate payments that longs pay to shorts when funding is positive.
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How much yield are basis traders currently earning on BTC?
The 7-day average BTC perpetual funding rate hit 8.7% annualized on August 24, per Aegis, with the 30-day average at 6.7%. Aggregated perpetual funding runs around 0.0109% per hour for bitcoin, per Coinalyze.
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Which firms are running the largest basis trades right now?
Abraxas Capital, Fasanara Capital, and Wintermute collectively hold short perpetual positions of 138,569 ETH (~$338M) and 3,425 BTC (~$265M) on Hyperliquid, per Lookonchain. Abraxas also pulled 73,872 ETH off Binance in four days.
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Why did the basis trade dry up earlier in 2025?
From February through July, bitcoin's annualized perpetual funding rate spent much of the period compressed or outright negative as the market sold off from all-time highs above $120,000 and leveraged longs were steadily unwound, removing the income the trade depends on.
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What does it mean that CME hedge funds just flipped net long?
Basis traders structurally keep this cohort short to collect funding, so a net-long position is unusual. It suggests some institutional players are layering outright bullish bets on top of carry, mixing a directional view with the market-neutral strategy.
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