For a dated future, basis converges to zero at expiry, so an annualised premium is a lending rate in disguise. For a perpetual there is no expiry, and the equivalent is the funding-rate, which pushes the contract back towards spot continuously.
The cash-and-carry trade buys spot and shorts the future to capture that premium, and it is market-neutral in price terms only. It still carries exchange credit risk, margin risk if the short moves against you before convergence, and the risk that basis widens further before it narrows.
Basis is also a sentiment gauge. Wide positive basis and heavily positive funding indicate crowded leveraged longs, a condition that has preceded many liquidation-cascade events. Deeply negative basis indicates the opposite crowding.
Related: funding-rate, funding-interval, contango, arbitrage-bot