Crypto Futures Spreads: Calendar and Intercoin Strategies
Summary
The document explains futures spread trading as a paired position: long one contract and short another, seeking changes in the price difference between the legs. It distinguishes calendar spreads, which pair the same underlying across expiries, from intercoin spreads, which pair different but correlated underlyings. The market-neutral framing means outright direction is not the central exposure, though spread positions still carry risks and can lose value.
It highlights execution risks from entering legs separately, limited instrument choice, and slippage when order-book depth is inadequate. The OKX Liquid Marketplace section describes request-for-quote competition, simultaneous off-order-book execution, portfolio margin offsets, predefined combinations, and customized multi-leg instruments as ways the venue addresses these frictions. These are platform capability claims rather than independent performance evidence; the document provides no spread selection rules, pricing model, historical results, or comparison of realized costs.
Key ideas
- A futures spread pairs a long and short contract to target changes in their relative prices.
- Calendar spreads pair one underlying across expiries, while intercoin spreads pair correlated underlyings.
- Separate execution of spread legs can create slippage and temporary directional exposure.
- Limited market depth and instrument availability can constrain spread trading.
- The described marketplace uses RFQs and simultaneous execution to address some execution risks, but provides no independent performance data.
Tags
This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.