Different Coins

In Spot–Futures and Futures–Futures arbitrage, the “different coins” mistake takes the form of a false hedge.

In these strategies, your safety is based on the fact that one asset fully hedges the other. If the coins are different — there is no hedge, and you are effectively opening two directional positions on different assets, which can lead to double losses.

The “False Hedge” Trap in Futures Setups

In Spot–Futures and Futures–Futures strategies, it is critically important that the underlying asset on both sides is identical.

Risk in the Spot–Futures Strategy

You buy a coin on spot and open an equivalent Short on futures.

• Mistake: You bought a “local” project token on spot (for example, $ROCKET) that has the same ticker as a popular coin on futures.

• Consequence: The price of the token you bought drops, while the futures price of the “real” coin rises. Instead of offsetting each other, both positions go into loss. Your hedge does not work.

Risk in the Futures–Futures Strategy

You open a Long on Exchange A and a Short on Exchange B.

• Mistake: On one exchange, the futures contract is tied to the real underlying asset, while on the other (often decentralized or less liquid), it is tied to a “synthetic” index or a coin with the same name but on a different network.

• Consequence: Price desynchronization can reach dozens of percent within minutes. You may face liquidation on both exchanges because the correlation between these assets is effectively zero.

Checklist to Verify Asset Identity in Futures:

1. Watch the video — everything is explained in detail:
   Watch here

2. Mark Price vs Index Price: If the index price of the futures contract on one exchange significantly differs from the spot price on another, it is likely a different asset or a different pricing mechanism (oracle).

3. Contract Type: Make sure you are not confusing USDT-M (linear contracts settled in stablecoins) and Coin-M (inverse contracts settled in the coin itself).