Token / perpetual spreadTRINITY EXCLUSIVE
Distance in basis points between the price of a tokenized asset and the price of the perpetual contract on the same underlying, from two readings taken close together in time. A positive spread means the perpetual trades above the token; a negative spread means it trades below. It does not describe the direction of the asset.
Trinity exclusive model
This metric is a proprietary Trinity Insights model. Its formula, inputs, weights and parameters are NOT disclosed. The page documents only the output (bounded scale, interpretation zones, historical context). Access to the score and its time series is via the REST API and the MCP server, subject to the required tier.
What is it?
Trinity exclusive reading. When the same underlying exists both as a backed wrapper and as a perpetual contract, two prices coexist for a single economic reality. This reading measures their relative pricing. This gap is not an opinion on the asset: it does not rise because the company is doing well. When it widens, the possible explanations lie in arbitrage between the two forms: constrained unit creation, a thin book on one side, carry cost on the other. The measurement does not say which one is at work; each is checked separately. The reading is expressed in basis points to stay comparable across assets whatever their price level. The pairing and measurement method is proprietary and not disclosed. What is published is the result and how to read it.
How to read
A basis point is one hundredth of a per cent. A ten basis point gap means the two forms of the same asset trade within a tenth of a per cent of one another. Sign matters as much as size. A positive gap indicates the perpetual trades above the token. A negative gap indicates the perpetual trades below the token. At zero, the two prices are equal. The sign describes their relative pricing; it does not establish holders' intentions. The age of the measurement is shown beside each gap. A gap measured seconds ago and one measured minutes ago do not compare: on a moving market, the second may already have closed. Above the daily table, a curve traces, day by day, the typical size of the gaps over the published pairs, regardless of their direction. It measures how large the friction is, not which way it points: the sign reading applies to the table, not to this curve. It starts with continuous measurement: earlier days were reconstructed as a trial from published series, then checked against the measurement over a common period, and the agreement fell short of the threshold set before the trial. They are therefore not published: a reconstruction is never presented as a measurement.
Key zones
A gap of a few basis points means the two forms trade at almost the same price. A common explanation, which the measurement does not observe, is active arbitrage between them. A gap of several tens of basis points means the two forms trade clearly apart. The causes to check first are a closed reference market, suspended unit creation, or simply nobody on either side of the book. A gap of several hundred basis points that persists means the two quotes move apart durably. In that case, treating the wrapper's price and the contract's as interchangeable becomes a mistake, whatever the cause.
What to observe
Watch persistence rather than the instantaneous level. A wide gap closing within the hour is passing; the same gap holding across several sessions is worth checking for a constraint, though the measurement alone does not establish one. Watch symmetry. An asset whose gap oscillates around zero trades sometimes above, sometimes below. An asset whose gap keeps the same sign over time is priced on one side only. One possible explanation, to be checked separately, is a wrapper that can only be created slowly and then commands a premium. Watch finally how many pairs are measurable. A gap only exists where both legs exist and where a source publishes both prices; that number describes the coverage of published pairs, not the state of the market: it can rise simply because coverage widens.
Historical context
Relative pricing of a wrapper and its underlying is an established subject in finance. Closed-end funds have always quoted at a premium or discount, and the history of exchange-traded products is that of perfecting a creation and redemption mechanism able to hold that gap near zero. Tokenisation reproduces this problem with new parameters: unit creation depends on an issuer and a custodian, redemption depends on legal access, and the secondary market runs continuously where the reference market closes at night. These three differences in nature are the first leads to check when a gap appears on this market; the measurement alone cannot decide between them.
Expert notes
⚠️ Trinity Exclusive Model. The pairing rule for the two legs and the simultaneity window are not published. A gap only means something if both prices are read at close moments, and that matching is never perfect. Two correct but time-shifted prices produce a gap that does not exist: this is the main source of error in such a measure, and the reason the reading's age is displayed. A gap is not a realisable arbitrage opportunity. Capturing one requires taking both legs, which demands legal access to the wrapper, an account on the contract's venue, and capital tied up on both sides. These conditions are rarely met by an individual holder, which is one possible reason a gap persists. No transaction cost is deducted. A gap smaller than round-trip fees is not exploitable even by an equipped participant.
Common mistakes to avoid
Taking a gap for available profit is the costliest mistake. A gap is a difference in quotes, not a sum waiting to be picked up. Reading a wide gap straight away as a data anomaly, or straight away as a market constraint, is another: the reading's age and the market leads are checked before concluding. Finally, comparing the gaps of two assets without checking each reading's age amounts to comparing two photographs taken at different moments. That is the classic error of this kind of measure, and it produces confident and false conclusions.
Programmatic access
MCP server
{
"tool": "get_chart_value",
"metric_id": "rwa-token-perp-spread",
"timeframe": "1y"
}Required tier: pro. See the pricing grid for the tier list and the MCP documentation for multi-client configuration.
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Institutional disclaimer
Trinity Insights is an educational and analytical tool. The metric above does not constitute investment advice. Trinity Insights is not a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) registered under MiCA Regulation (EU) 2023/1114. See the full disclaimer.