Premium (spot − perp)

The premium shows, for each candle, the price gap between a coin's spot and perpetual markets. It reveals whether the leveraged market is running ahead of the spot market or lagging behind it, and so who is currently driving a move: spot demand or leveraged positions.

How to read it

With Spot − Perp:

• Negative: Perps trade above spot. The market is paying a premium for leveraged long positions. A strongly negative premium during a rise means leverage is carrying the move; such rises are more vulnerable to setbacks and long liquidations.
• Positive: Spot trades above the perps. Demand is coming from the spot market, or the perps are being pushed down by shorts. Rises with a positive premium count as more solid.
• Reversal: When the premium flips around zero, the driving side often changes.

Limitations

• Only the close is compared. The premium doesn't see what happens within the candle.
• The average contains pairs in USD and in USDT. If USDT deviates from the US dollar, that feeds into the premium. For a clean comparison over long periods, pick one exchange per side with the same quote currency.
• If an exchange has no price for individual candles, it is missing from the average there. That can make the premium jump briefly.
• The premium is available for cryptocurrencies only.

Related indicators

• Order book top levels
• Order book heatmap
• Order book depth (±5%)
• Session Volume Profile
• TPO / Market Profile
• Trade bubbles