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How to Benchmark a Crypto Options-Income Strategy: NAV, Premium, Drawdown and Spot
| Risk, Portfolio & Performance | 27 seen
Benchmark an options-income strategy against a matched spot position and report NAV, premium, realized P/L, unrealized P/L, drawdown, cash/collateral and open exposure separately. A single premium or annualized-yield number cannot establish whether the strategy improved the portfolio outcome.
Illustration: evaluate an overlay with matched benchmarks and separate performance measures.Terramatris uses weekly records as historical documentation, not as evidence that any future premium target will be met. A useful benchmark makes the strategy falsifiable: it can show where an overlay added value, where it lagged and how much risk it used to obtain the result.
Choose a benchmark before reading the outcomeA fair BTC options benchmark begins with the same BTC quantity, starting…
Position Sizing for Crypto Options: Assignment, Concentration and Leverage Risk
| Risk, Portfolio & Performance | 13 seen
Position sizing for crypto options starts with the maximum portfolio loss or assignment exposure that can be accepted, then works backward to contract size. It should not start with the premium available or with the maximum margin a venue permits.
Illustration: position size should reflect assignment, collateral and concentration risk.Options can make a small premium appear attractive relative to the cash received, while the underlying obligation is much larger. Terramatris treats contract size, collateral, concentration and liquidity as linked controls. A trade is not well sized merely because the premium looks modest.
Start with the obligationA cash-secured put can require buying the underlying at the strike. A covered call can require delivering or selling the underlying…
Ep 160 / Bitcoin Buy-Write Returns to TerraM Multi Asset as Ethereum Options Strategy Rebuilds
| Trading Journal | 35 seen
Another interesting week across crypto markets.
Bitcoin fell and traded around $76,800, Ethereum declined approximately 0.5–1% over the week, while Solana underperformed slightly after its recent rally, trading near $99–100.
The broader market was driven by renewed macro pressure: rising oil prices, higher Treasury yields, inflation concerns, and increased expectations of a more restrictive Federal Reserve path. Crypto ETF flows provided some support earlier in the week, but risk appetite weakened as markets focused on inflation data and the upcoming Fed decision.
Volatility remained elevated across major assets, with crypto reacting closely to macro moves rather than crypto-specific catalysts.
For TerraMatris, the biggest structural development this week was…
Bitcoin Covered Calls vs Holding Bitcoin: The Upside You Give Up for Premium
| Options Strategies | 14 seen
A Bitcoin covered call exchanges some future BTC upside for a premium received today. It can be a deliberate overlay when an investor is genuinely willing to sell Bitcoin at the strike, but it is not equivalent to holding Bitcoin and it is not a substitute for risk control.
Illustration: a Bitcoin overlay trades some upside above the strike for option premium.Terramatris treats an options overlay as a portfolio decision rather than a yield product. The relevant comparison is not premium alone; it is the resulting net asset value, the BTC exposure retained, the assignment outcome and the return that would have occurred without the call.
What is a Bitcoin covered call?A covered call combines a long Bitcoin position with a short call written against an amount of BTC that can…
Why Options-Income Strategies Can Underperform Spot During Strong Crypto Rallies
| Risk, Portfolio & Performance | 11 seen
An options-income strategy can lag spot when its short calls cap upside, its hedge costs rise, or its position is structured for a range-bound market while the underlying makes a large directional move. Premium received is compensation for an obligation; it does not preserve every dollar of upside.
Illustration: a covered-call overlay can lag spot when the underlying rallies beyond the strike.This is not a defect that can be solved by annualizing premiums. It is the core trade-off. A portfolio selling calls on BTC or ETH has deliberately exchanged some convex upside for immediate cash flow. The right question is whether that trade-off matches the strategy’s stated objective and benchmark.
The covered-call payoff explains the lagA covered call owns the underlying and sells a…
Crypto Options Collateral and Margin: Why “Covered” Does Not Mean Low Risk
| Risk, Portfolio & Performance | 13 seen
Collateral is the asset set aside to support an options obligation; margin is the venue’s risk requirement for keeping that position open. A strategy can receive premium and still be unsafe if collateral, settlement currency, liquidity or position size are misunderstood.
Illustration: collateral and margin are risk controls, not evidence that a position is low risk.The word “covered” is useful but incomplete. A short BTC call may be covered by BTC, cash, a synthetic position or exchange margin. Those structures can behave differently when prices move, volatility rises or a venue changes its requirements. Terramatris therefore treats collateral design as part of the strategy, not back-office detail.
Collateral, margin and notional are different measurementsNotional is the…
Ethereum Wheel Strategy: Cash-Secured Puts and Covered Calls
| Options Strategies | 22 seen
The ETH wheel lifecycle: each stage creates a new risk and position-management decision.Educational research only. Not investment, legal, tax, or trading advice. Options and digital assets involve substantial risk, including loss of capital. A premium received is not a guaranteed profit.
An Ethereum wheel strategy combines two familiar options positions: a cash-secured put and, after assignment, a covered call. In Terramatris's published Ethereum framework, cash-secured puts may lead to spot ETH accumulation; covered calls may then be written against that spot exposure. (Terramatris’s Ethereum Strategy)
The name can make the process sound automatic. It is not. Every expiry, assignment, roll, and new sale is a…
Options Premium Is Not Profit: How to Read Options Performance
| Risk, Portfolio & Performance | 9 seen
Premium is a cash-flow item; realized results and total portfolio outcome require separate reporting.An option seller may receive premium when a position opens. That cash receipt is real. It is not, by itself, the final economic result of the position—or of a broader strategy.
Terramatris publishes educational research and strategy notes on digital-asset options. It does not accept deposits, manage third-party capital, or trade on behalf of investors. (About Terramatris) This article explains a reporting framework for reading options activity clearly. It is educational only, not investment advice, a performance claim, or a forecast.
The core distinction: cash received is not a completed outcome
Premium can arrive…
1-DTE ETH Options Bot: Rules, Guardrails and Risks
| Systematic Trading | 15 seen
Automation is bounded by data, liquidity, exposure, monitoring, and explicit human-review conditions.Educational research only. Not investment advice, a recommendation to trade options, or a performance claim. Options and digital assets involve substantial risk, including the potential for losses and assignment-related exposure.
A one-day-to-expiry (1-DTE) ETH options bot can automate a narrow, repetitive workflow: obtain permitted market data, exclude contracts that fail predefined checks, place or manage an order within approved limits, and record what occurred. Automation does not make the strategy autonomous, risk-free, or suitable for every market condition.
Terramatris documents an internal Ethereum strategy…
Ep 159 / ETH Options Cycle Generates $225 and 6.7% Potential Income in 49 Days
| Trading Journal | 114 seen
As of September 4, 2026, our Ethereum strategy portfolio was valued at $3,674, up 0.5% week over week. Despite the continued recovery, the portfolio remains down -31.76% year to date and -68.64% below the all-time high reached in September 2025.
Based on our performance tracking, the strategy continues to underperform Ethereum itself, which is down approximately -15.50% year to date.
ETH spent most of the week trading around the $2,400-$2,500 area before reclaiming $2,500 late in the week. The broader crypto market also strengthened as bond yields eased and expectations for further Federal Reserve tightening softened. For our strategy, however, the more important development was that ETH remained comfortably above the strike prices of our current short-put positions.
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