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Basis Arb Agent Skill

Use when the user asks for spot-perp basis trade, basis arbitrage, cash-and-carry, perp discount, or any setup that reads the spot–perp basis as a positioning signal. Long-perp leg only — pure two-leg basis arb requires a paired spot short (or long) which Freqtrade can't run cleanly. The strategy below captures the directional read, not the hedged carry.

3k tokens
context cost
the whole folder, loaded on every use
1
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instructions only
0
copies elsewhere
how many repositories repackaged it
225
stars on the repo
on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository
npx skills add https://github.com/Superior-Trade/superior-skills --skill basis-arb

The instruction itself

11 sections, as written by the author

Strategy: Basis Flipping — Directional (Long-Perp Leg)

Honest framing — read this first

True basis arbitrage is a two-leg trade:

  • Long perp + short spot (when perp trades at a discount to spot, basis < 0)
  • Short perp + long spot (when perp trades at a premium, basis > 0)

You earn the basis as the legs converge. Freqtrade is a single-leg engine — it can't run paired hedged trades on the same ticker. The strategy below captures the directional signal that "basis flipping negative + funding negative = bullish positioning shift" and goes long the perp accordingly. It's a momentum read on positioning, not a hedged arb.

If you want the actual hedged version, run an external system (or a custom Hyperliquid-only multi-leg runtime). Don't deploy this template thinking it's market-neutral.

Backtest reference

| Window | BTC/USDC:USDC 1h, 2026-01-01 → 2026-05-01 |

|---|---|

| Trades | 0 (no spot leg available in the engine) |

| Backtest ID | 01kr42hegps9w20njsty2cqb41 |

The Superior Trade backtest engine doesn't currently expose Hyperliquid spot OHLCV alongside perp pairs via Freqtrade's informative_pairs mechanism, so the spot_close column is never populated and the entry filter never fires. The strategy code is structurally sound — it runs cleanly to completion with 0 trades — but this template can't be validated end-to-end on the current backtest engine. Two paths:

  • Validate live, paper-traded — run as a dry-run deployment for a week and compare the entries against an external basis tracker (CoinGlass basisHistory or a simple notebook).
  • Substitute external basis feed — replace the informative_pairs spot fetch with a CoinGlass /api/futures/basis/history call from a side-channel cache. Out of scope for this template; would be a Phase 2 backend change.

The strategy is shipped as a directional blueprint, not a live-validated runtime. Treat it as a teachable template for how to wire spot-perp basis into a Freqtrade strategy, rather than an off-the-shelf deployment.

When to use

A user asks for:

  • "Basis trade", "basis arb", "perp discount", "cash and carry"
  • A directional follow-on to spot-side accumulation ("spot is buying, perp is short, going long the perp")
  • Anything where the basis flipping negative is the trigger

This template assumes Hyperliquid has both the spot and perp pair for the asset (BTC, ETH, SOL — the few HL has spot books for). For perp-only assets, this strategy can't compute basis and won't fire.

The Freqtrade primitive that makes this work

Two dp.get_pair_dataframe calls:

  • The current perp's funding rate (same pattern as strategy-funding-rate-arbitrage)
  • The corresponding spot pair's OHLCV via informative_pairs() so we can compute basis

Basis = (perp_mark - spot_mid) / spot_mid. Annualised by funding period.

Reference implementation

from freqtrade.strategy import IStrategy, informative
from datetime import datetime
import pandas as pd
import talib.abstract as ta


def perp_to_spot(pair: str) -> str:
    """`BTC/USDC:USDC` → `BTC/USDC`. HL spot lives at the un-suffixed pair."""
    return pair.split(":")[0] if ":" in pair else pair


class BasisFlippingStrategy(IStrategy):
    minimal_roi = {"0": 100.0}
    stoploss = -0.04
    trailing_stop = False
    timeframe = "1h"
    process_only_new_candles = True
    startup_candle_count = 30
    can_short = False

    def informative_pairs(self):
        # Tell Freqtrade we need spot-side OHLCV for every perp in the
        # whitelist. The base pair list is set by the user; we mirror
        # each entry to its spot equivalent.
        pairs = self.dp.current_whitelist()
        return [(perp_to_spot(p), self.timeframe) for p in pairs if ":" in p]

    def populate_indicators(self, dataframe: pd.DataFrame, metadata: dict) -> pd.DataFrame:
        perp_pair = metadata["pair"]
        spot_pair = perp_to_spot(perp_pair)

        # Funding rate via the dedicated candle type.
        try:
            funding = self.dp.get_pair_dataframe(
                pair=perp_pair,
                timeframe="1h",
                candle_type="funding_rate",
            )
        except Exception:
            funding = pd.DataFrame()
        if not funding.empty and "open" in funding.columns:
            f = funding[["date", "open"]].rename(columns={"open": "funding_rate"}).copy()
            dataframe = dataframe.merge(f, on="date", how="left")
            dataframe["funding_rate"] = dataframe["funding_rate"].ffill().fillna(0.0)
            dataframe["funding_apr"] = dataframe["funding_rate"] * 24 * 365
        else:
            dataframe["funding_rate"] = 0.0
            dataframe["funding_apr"] = 0.0

        # Spot OHLCV — declared via `informative_pairs`.
        try:
            spot = self.dp.get_pair_dataframe(pair=spot_pair, timeframe=self.timeframe)
        except Exception:
            spot = pd.DataFrame()
        # Initialise required columns up front so the entry guard can
        # read them even when the spot leg isn't available on this
        # dataset. Hyperliquid's backtest cache doesn't always expose
        # the matching spot pair via informative_pairs — without these
        # default columns the strategy crashes with KeyError on the
        # first candle.
        dataframe["spot_close"] = float("nan")
        dataframe["basis"] = 0.0
        dataframe["basis_apr"] = 0.0
        if not spot.empty and "close" in spot.columns:
            s = spot[["date", "close"]].rename(columns={"close": "spot_close"}).copy()
            dataframe = dataframe.drop(columns=["spot_close"])
            dataframe = dataframe.merge(s, on="date", how="left")
            dataframe["spot_close"] = dataframe["spot_close"].ffill()
            # Instantaneous basis (perp - spot) / spot. Annualise as
            # basis_apr ≈ basis * (8h_settlement_periods/year) ≈ basis * 1095
            # (3 settlements/day × 365). HL's actual basis convergence
            # path is messier but this is the standard back-of-envelope.
            dataframe["basis"] = (
                dataframe["close"] - dataframe["spot_close"]
            ) / dataframe["spot_close"]
            dataframe["basis_apr"] = dataframe["basis"] * 1095

        dataframe["atr_24"] = ta.ATR(dataframe, timeperiod=24)
        return dataframe

    def populate_entry_trend(self, dataframe: pd.DataFrame, metadata: dict) -> pd.DataFrame:
        # Long perp when:
        #   1. Basis flipped negative (perp at discount to spot)
        #   2. Funding is also negative (shorts paying — same crowd)
        #   3. Spot isn't crashing (close > 24h SMA proxy)
        # Only fire when the spot leg is actually available — without
        # spot data the basis is meaningless and we'd be entering on a
        # zero-filled signal.
        sma_spot = dataframe["spot_close"].rolling(24).mean()
        spot_available = dataframe["spot_close"].notna()
        dataframe.loc[
            spot_available
            & (dataframe["basis_apr"] < -0.05)
            & (dataframe["funding_apr"] < 0.0)
            & (dataframe["spot_close"] > sma_spot)
            & (dataframe["volume"] > 0),
            "enter_long",
        ] = 1
        return dataframe

    def populate_exit_trend(self, dataframe: pd.DataFrame, metadata: dict) -> pd.DataFrame:
        # Exit when basis converges back to neutral (≥ 0) — the structural
        # pressure has been worked off.
        dataframe.loc[(dataframe["basis_apr"] >= 0.0), "exit_long"] = 1
        return dataframe

    def custom_exit(self, pair: str, trade, current_time: datetime,
                    current_rate: float, current_profit: float, **kwargs):
        # Basis convergence is slow but persistent. 48h is the patience floor.
        elapsed_h = (current_time - trade.open_date_utc).total_seconds() / 3600.0
        if elapsed_h >= 48:
            return "timeout_48h"
        return None

Config requirements

{
  "exchange": { "name": "hyperliquid", "pair_whitelist": ["BTC/USDC:USDC"] },
  "stake_currency": "USDC",
  "stake_amount": 100,
  "timeframe": "1h",
  "max_open_trades": 1,
  "stoploss": -0.04,
  "minimal_roi": { "0": 100.0 },
  "trading_mode": "futures",
  "margin_mode": "cross",
  "entry_pricing": { "price_side": "same" },
  "exit_pricing": { "price_side": "same" },
  "pairlists": [{ "method": "StaticPairList" }]
}

Pair must have a corresponding HL spot pair. Today that's effectively BTC, ETH, SOL, HYPE — the few assets with both perp and spot books on Hyperliquid. Other perps will return zero basis and never fire.

Tunable parameters

| Knob | Effect |

|---|---|

| basis_apr < -0.05 | Stricter (-0.10) → only deeper discounts. Looser (-0.02) → more entries, weaker signal. |

| funding_apr < 0.0 | The "shorts paying" confirmation. Drop this to fire on basis alone (faster, noisier). |

| spot_close > sma_24 | The "spot isn't crashing" filter. Without it, the strategy buys into spot drawdowns where the basis is negative because everything's down. |

| timeout_48h | Basis trades take days, not hours. Don't tighten below 24h. |

Variants

  • Hedged via external runtime: pair this with a spot-short (e.g. through Aerodrome or a CEX) for true delta-neutral. Out of scope for Freqtrade.
  • Reverse premium (variant): when basis > +0.10 APR with positive funding, short the perp. Mirror logic, requires can_short = True and an isolated-margin perp config.
  • Term-structure variant: skip same-pair basis and use the 1d-MA basis vs 1h basis as the signal. Less noisy, more reliable for swing horizon.

Common pitfalls

  • Treating this as market-neutral. It isn't. The price exposure is full perp delta. The basis convergence is an *additional* edge on top of that exposure, not a substitute for it.
  • Pairs without spot. Perp-only HL pairs (most alts) won't have basis data — the strategy will never fire and the user gets confused why "no trades". Always confirm informative_pairs declared the spot leg.
  • Hourly basis noise. Basis at the 1h scale flickers around zero. Without the funding-confirming filter, you get whipsawed by every tick of perp-spot divergence.
  • Tight stops. Convergence trades take days, not hours. -0.04 is the floor; tighter and ATR noise stops you out before the trade works.

Sources

  • Internal plan: docs/alpha-scan-improvement-plan.md — basis-flipping bucket
  • Freqtrade informative_pairs — https://www.freqtrade.io/en/stable/strategy-customization/#additional-data-informative_pairs
  • Sibling: the funding-rate-arbitrage skill

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How to use it

Copy the folder

Take superior-trade/basis-arb from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.

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