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Funding rate and cross-exchange spread arbitrage

For arbitrage traders: compare spreads and funding rates across exchanges live, with alerts when your conditions are met. Send the trades you pick to ZML Trade on your own server, and it opens and closes both legs together.

Free to use, no sign-up needed

Exchanges and markets

20
Exchanges covered
20,014
Markets
29,715
Arbitrage opportunities

Data as of

Asset classes

  • Crypto asset
  • Equity
  • ETF
  • Index
  • Commodity
  • Foreign exchange

Arbitrage type

  • Cross-exchange arbitrage
  • Reverse spot-perp arbitrage
  • Spot-perp arbitrage

Cross-exchange spread monitor

Compare prices of the same asset in real time across centralized exchanges, perpetual DEXs and on-chain spot. Each opportunity states both legs, the direction, and the two spreads for opening and closing.

  • Save a coin and threshold as an opportunity tab, and you get an alert when the condition is met.
  • Every opportunity has history charts for open spread, close spread and net funding, so you can see how today’s spread compares.
  • When one leg disconnects, the spread freezes and is marked as such instead of showing old quotes as live.
  • Verified delisting announcements are marked on the affected opportunities.

Funding rate comparison

Exchanges settle funding on different intervals. Z Market Lab normalizes every rate to 8 hours and compares them side by side, surfacing the coins with the widest cross-exchange funding diff.

  • Historical funding rates, with continuous charts even after an exchange changes its funding interval.
  • Shows the settlement countdown and the cumulative funding rate difference over several days.
  • Equity, index, commodity and foreign exchange perpetuals are compared in the same table.

Both legs placed together

Send an opportunity to ZML Trade in one click and the combo is created on the spot, without opening. Once you set the open and close spreads and resume opening, it opens and closes both legs together on your own server. Free to use, no subscription.

  • When one leg fills first, the other leg follows automatically, and the leg gap is shown live.
  • Each leg can be market or post-only. The order price follows the order book, and the other leg follows on fill.
  • As the liquidation distance shrinks, the combo stops opening new positions and then turns reduce-only. With liquidation guard on, both legs are reduced together at market.
  • Positions stay separate even when several combos share one account, and are reconciled against the exchange’s actual positions all the time.

Strategy guides

Each guide covers one delta-neutral strategy: how to set up both legs, which numbers to watch, how to monitor and where the risks are.

Funding rate arbitrage

Hold equal and opposite positions on two markets with different funding rates. Price moves cancel out; the funding diff between the two sides is what the position earns or pays.

Cross-exchange spread arbitrage

Go long where the price is lower and short where it is higher, placing both legs together; close when the spread narrows, and the narrowing is your profit.

Spot-perp arbitrage

Trade the gap between a perpetual and its spot market. When the perpetual trades rich, buy spot and short the perpetual; when it trades cheap, reverse the legs.

Hedging

Offset the price exposure of one position with an equal and opposite position. The combined position holds its value as price moves, apart from basis and funding.

API keys

Your API keys are stored encrypted on your own server. They are never sent to ZML and never pass through it, and ZML has no login to your server.

Permissions

Needs only read and trade permissions, plus transfer if you use transfers. It never needs or uses withdrawal permission.

Funds

ZML never holds your funds. They stay in your own exchange accounts.

Troubleshooting

Does Z Market Lab cost anything?

Viewing data and alerts is free. Pro raises the limits on opportunity tabs, simultaneous live market pages and days of history curves, and supports pushing to Telegram and Feishu. ZML Trade is free to use, with no subscription.

Do I need to sign up to view the data?

No. Spreads and funding rates across exchanges are free to view right away. Sending opportunities to ZML Trade requires signing in to Z Market Lab, and sign-up is free.

How are Z Market Lab and ZML Trade related?

Z Market Lab is a market monitor that shows spreads and funding rates across exchanges in your browser. ZML Trade is an arbitrage bot that runs on your own server and opens and closes positions on both legs together. Each works on its own; once paired, you can send opportunities from the monitor to ZML Trade.

Will my API keys pass through ZML?

No. Keys are stored encrypted on your own server and are not sent to ZML. Order placement and transfers are executed by ZML Trade on your server, on the exchange accounts you add.

Will ZML hold my funds or give trading advice?

No. ZML does not hold your funds and does not give investment advice. Trades are executed with your parameters, and you bear the risk.

What do I need to deploy ZML Trade?

A server of your own. Installation takes one command, and you can also try it online first.

Start with the market monitor

Spreads and funding rates update in real time. Free to use, no account needed.