Crypto Options Unplugged

In this week's episode Imran host Shaun Fernando, Chief Risk Officer at Deribit, and Antonio Vulcano, Senior Trader at Laser Digital. This discusses the topics of the moment in crypto like the rally triggered by the weekend's assassination attempt on Donald Trump and the impending launch of ETH ETFs next week. Imran gives his quick macro summary and discusses the current volatility conditi...

In this week's episode, Imran and David host Katia Babbar and William McGhee the co-founders of Immersive Finance. They discuss how they are meeting the needs of institutional players in the crypto space in terms of rich, granular data sets and detailed risk management capabilities after many decades in traditional finance on the FX side. Katia also explains that they want to cater for the gro...

In this week’s episode Imran and David host Johnny Fry, Head of Digital Asset Strategy at Clearbank. They discuss how blockchain technology is changing the infrastructure across financial markets and improving efficiency and transparency. The strong use cases behind stable coins and tokenization are not going away. And Johnny explains how it is a matter of when and not if the entire financial syst...

In this week’s episode, Imran and David discuss the recent drop in crypto prices and whether or not the short-term bottom is in yet. David cautions against the impact China maybe having in crypto markets but overall feels that the Mnt. Gox distribution is priced in. Imran catches up with Andrew from Thinking Greeks to get his thoughts on crypto vol and the best opportunities to play in options rig...

In this week's episode David and Imran welcome Dennis Ehlert, a derivatives trader from Amina Bank. They discuss the broader trends in crypto markets in terms of institutional adoption and how we are still very early on in building out infrastructure for real money flows. David gives his 30k ft view on the latest macro developments. Imran and Dennis highlight the main flows they are seeing in...

In this week's episode, David and Imran discuss the recent developments in the US labor market that have created headwinds for crypto prices in the near term and ahead of key inflation data this week. Imran also has an in-depth chat with Sean McNulty from Arbelos Capital and Douglas Comin from XBTO about crypto vol markets and how they differ from other more traditional asset classes such as F...

In this week's episode, apart from the usual macro, crypto, and volatility round-up, Imran catches up with Arbelos Capital Co-founder Shiliang Tang and trader Sean McNulty to discuss what trends they are seeing in the institutional crypto vol space. It was an enlightening discussion with some very seasoned players in the market who have become one of the dominant market makers in crypto option...

In this week's episode David And Imran discuss the swift policy shifts we have been seeing around crypto regulation in the US fuelled by Donald Trump embracing crypto in his campaign. The Biden administration has likely realised that they have no choice but to lighten up regulation to appeal to the 50 million or so US voters who use cryptocurrencies. Overall the landscape looks ripe for the st...

In this week's episode, Imran and David welcome James Van Straten from Cryptoslate as they take a look into the world of on-chain analytics. James writes reports analyzing these important metrics to help traders forecast trends in crypto assets. This unique approach and the granularity of the flow data that is unavailable in TradFi markets has become somewhat of a must-have tool for serious cr...

In this week's episode, Imran and David welcome Andrew Melville, volatility research analyst at Block Scholes. They take a deep dive into what Andrew has been seeing in crypto volatility trends and how institutions are trading volatility in this rapidly growing asset class. Imran breaks down why options traders use butterflies to buy or sell convexity and discusses the reason why the volatilit...

In this week’s episode Imran and David discuss the game changing macro developments that triggered a sharp bounce in crypto and risk assets. The FOMC was more dovish than investors had feared as rate hikes were taken off the table and a larger taper of QT means more liquidity to drive risk assets higher.  Imran runs through his usual crypto vol insights which showed a reduction in BTC skew as put...

In this weeks episode David and Imran discuss the recent gyrations in FX markets and what implications they may have for crypto prices going forward. David remains convinced that weakness in Asian currencies will keep pressure on the Fed to be more dovish than interest rate markets are pricing. Imran catches up with Jeff Anderson from STS Digital to get his thoughts on crypto vol markets and where...

In this week's episode, Imran and David discuss the recent risk rally that has kicked off this week as geopolitical tensions abate with Iran not looking to counterattack Israel. Cross-asset volatility spiked last week but is reverting quickly as Gold and Oil give back some of their gains. Interest rate vol also means reverting after a large spike and the path and speed of yields from here will...

In this episode, Imran and David give an update on the latest crypto action as geopolitics and inflation fears have put investors on edge. With the conflict in the Middle East likely to drag on for at least a few more weeks, it may be difficult for crypto markets to recover even though the bitcoin halving was touted as a positive catalyst. Imran catches up with JJ (the JLabs Janitor) who analyses...

In this week's episode, Imran and David analyze recent trends in crypto markets, including Ethereum's recovery and the impending Bitcoin halving. They discuss the impact of macroeconomic factors such as rising gold prices and international desires for lower US dollar values and interest rates. Additionally, they speculate on potential outcomes from Yellen's meeting with Chinese officials and explo...

In this weeks episode Imran and David discuss the pause in the crypto rally which has led to some key supports being breached and what macro forces may be driving it. The stronger dollar and China needing BTC to look less appealing to stop capital flight are factors that David dissects in more detail. Imran catches up with Greg Magadini from Amberdata to find out what he has his eye on in crypto v...

In this week's episode Imran and David discuss the aftermath of a big macro week that saw huge swings in crypto prices. The BoJ was a damp squib as David had been expecting but the FOMC implicitly signalled their tolerance for above target inflation. We saw the first rate cut out of the SNB and expect synchronised easing by the summer across major central banks. ETF inflows slowed down and Greysca...

In this week's episode Imran and David cover the recent crypto correction and explore if the macro backdrop has changed. David is of the opinion that this dip is healthy and real money buyers are still to come in, given the smaller clip sizes seen in ETFs flows. Imran gives his usual update on crypto volatility, skew and options positioning where last week’s skew moves were a timely signal to get...

In this episode, Imran and David host Chantal Bradford from Deribit's institutional sales. They delve into Deribit's new altcoin options for XRP, SOL, and MATIC, and discuss recent platform improvements that appeal to institutional clients. Chantal shares her enthusiasm for the growing crypto options market and the promising future of ETF options in the U.S. David highlights encouraging macro tren...

In this week’s episode, Imran and David host special guest Manvir Nijhar, ex-head of UK equity derivatives at SocGen. Manvir is an active trader of crypto options on Deribit and gives some insight into the type of strategies he employs to profit from crypto volatility. As always, David gives his rundown on the macro forces that are supporting the latest move and Imran breaks down the key options f...

In this week's podcast, Imran and David talk about the surging crypto prices ahead of the April Bitcoin halving. Despite profit-taking concerns, David remains bullish. Imran speculates on ETH's continued outperformance, citing a potential spot ETF approval in the Summer, and mentions bullish options flows. The discussion concludes with Imran sharing preferred hedging structures for a prudent appro...

In this week’s episode: Imran and David explore the Bitcoin price surge driven by increased ETF inflows and anticipation of the upcoming "Bitcoin halving." They discuss macro factors affecting crypto, including hotter-than-expected inflation data. Imran analyzes option flows, emphasizing their impact on crypto volatility and ETH gamma positioning changes.

In this podcast episode, Imran and David discuss the recent blowout non-farm payrolls data that has led to a shift in US rate cut expectations. David explains how the regional banking crisis may be re-emerging due to the refinancing needs on commercial real estate loans and how it is likely to impact FED policy. Imran analyses the recent collapse in crypto volatility and identifies some trading op...

In this podcast episode, Imran and David discuss the continuation of Bitcoin ETF inflows that has helped catalyse the 10% bounce in the last week. David explains recent macro developments and why he holds the view that the Federal Reserve will cut rates in March , a move that will support crypto markets for the rest of the year. Imran questions whether ETH option dealer positioning will prove to b...

In this podcast episode, Imran and David delve into the recent decline in cryptocurrency prices, exploring the factors influencing this market move and how investors are hedging against it. They also analyze recent developments in interest rates markets and examine the broader macroeconomic landscape's impact on the short and long-term prospects of cryptocurrencies. Imran breaks down the dynamics...