August performance and newsletter
Bitcoin set a new all-time high in August, trading above
US$124,000 for the first time. Positive sentiment was
driven by increased institutional backing and further U.S.
regulatory support, notably easing rules around holding
cryptocurrency in retirement accounts. The new high in
BTC found strong resistance, and profit-taking saw prices
settle around $108,000 by month-end.
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July performance and newsletter
Similar to the equity market, the crypto market is pricing
in further interest rate cuts from the Fed and many
developed market central banks. Positive U.S. regulatory
momentum continues to build for crypto. The GENIUS
Act was enacted by U.S. President Trump on July 18, and
new SEC Chair Atkins announced plans for major
regulatory reforms on cryptocurrencies at month close.
June performance and newsletter
A similar trend to what occurred last month, where
yields on crypto-specific trading venues remained
below those on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange
(CME). The algorithm was able to take advantage of the
opportunities, particularly as the spread between the
CME and the crypto-specific trading exchanges
narrowed towards the back end of the month.
May performance and newsletter
BTC rose to a new all-time high of $111,970 on 22 May.
Despite the record high, BTC futures yields were not
overly responsive, but they did hold up well throughout
the spike and volatile period. BTC seems to be trading
more like gold as time goes on.
April performance and newsletter
Basis volatility (the premium futures command over
spot) was muted throughout the month, with yields
never really finding a bid even toward the back end of
April’s recovery. At times CME yields decoupled from
broader crypto-centric venues, which provided a
convenient avenue for returns. Otherwise, the system
took advantage of inter/intra exchange opportunities as
they became available.
January performance and newsletter
The month of January saw the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. President. The 20th January inauguration coincided with Bitcoin printing at a new all time high just below US$110,000.
The record high in Bitcoin appears to be driven by the perception that President Trump remains a crypto friendly U.S. President. Trump has announced a variety of crypto-friendly cabinet heads and has been communicating optimistically about the role of crypto in the United States.
Over coming months, the market will learn more about Trump’s plans in the crypto space.
December performance and newsletter
A busy month of trading activity in December, with futures basis and spot both volatile over the month. We saw some great trading opportunities across all the main crypto exchanges and expect these trading opportunities to continue over the new year. A potentially interesting development over 2025 will be the continued increase in options-related activity as ETF options increase in popularity. Additional liquidity in ETF options should broadly assist basis market liquidity, which will in turn assist trading opportunities in the Digital Income Class.
November performance and newsletter
November was a busy month of trading activity. There were good volumes in the futures spread across both the Deribit and Okx exchanges. Futures basis found a steady bid, in line with a strong bid in spot. The market was relatively well behaved. However, we would expect it to become more chaotic, and conducive to the volatility strategy, if $100k convincingly breaks to the upside.
We’re starting to see the benefits of our engineers’ development work undertaken earlier this year, on DAFM’s algorithm.
October performance and newsletter
Crypto markets were relatively benign until the final days of the month as we approached the US election. The march higher and then through 70k in BTC saw yields rally materially which the strategy took advantage of. The uptick in yields and prices also saw the return of trading/volume differences
across venues and contracts. The desk remains prepared to take advantage of November’s volatility regardless of the outcome.