Blog

Snipping in DeFi: Tempting, But Not Sustainable

9 June 2025 | Research | 53 seen

At Terramatris, we constantly evaluate emerging strategies in the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape — especially those that promise asymmetric upside. One such tactic is snipping (or sniping), a method that’s gained attention for its high-speed, high-risk approach to token trading.

We want to offer a clear and honest take: while snipping can be entertaining and, in rare cases, wildly profitable, it doesn’t align with our long-term trading philosophy.

Snipping refers to the practice of purchasing newly launched tokens at the exact moment liquidity is added to decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap or Raydium. Traders — typically using bots — aim to front-run others by getting in before a price surge and exiting moments later with a quick…

Episode 94 / Crypto Fund Surges 10.76% Weekly / XRP Backed Loan

6 June 2025 | Weekly updates | 87 seen

As of June 6, 2025, the Terramatris crypto hedge fund value stands at $7,546 showing very strong weekly growth of +10.76% or +$733 in dollar terms. 

At one point during the week, the fund briefly exceeded the $8,000 mark, setting a new all-time high. Unfortunately, by week’s end, its value experienced a pullback.

Nevertheless, it was an impressive and encouraging week overall.

The growth primarily stems from securing an XRP-backed loan, which we are using as collateral to generate yield by selling options on ETH. We are still evaluating the impact and structure of this loan, with the goal of remaining loan-neutral. Our strategy includes identifying opportunities to repay the loan quickly. 

Currently, we are paying 8% annual interest on this loan. If…

Episode 93 / Crypto Fund Grows to $6,812 (+2.59%) as Crypto Markets Surge in May 2025

30 May 2025 | Weekly updates | 108 seen

As of May 30, 2025, the Terramatris crypto hedge fund value stands at $6,812, showing another strong weekly growth of +2.59% or +209 in dollar terms. 

That still puts as -12.82% below our all-time high of $7,811 (recorded on March 6, 2025), while the fund's year-to-date performance is +19.95%. The past few weeks have been very strong for crypto markets and right now we are not excluding some pullback, consolidation before next move, despite overall optimism, we are concerned about - Sell the May and go Away phenomena, meaning next few months might be challenging. We hope to be wrong though!

This week, we capitalized on elevated crypto market conditions and sold our entire BNB position at a modest profit. While we continue to hold a few altcoins, our strategic focus for…

Selling Covered Calls on Borrowed Bitcoin: Strategic Yield with Asymmetric Risk

25 May 2025 | Crypto Options | 57 seen

On May 25, 2025, we executed a position that perfectly illustrates a niche but compelling setup in the crypto derivatives space. We:

Let’s break down the rationale, benefits, risks, and variations of this strategy — and why, despite its synthetic nature, it can be a valuable tool in Terramatris' option yield strategies.

The basic idea is to monetize a borrowed BTC position by selling a cash-settled call option against it. If BTC stays below the strike at expiry, we pocket the premium. If BTC rises above the strike, we owe the…

Episode 92 / Crypto Fund Grows 5.69% Weekly / TerraM token Staking Opportunity Ahead

23 May 2025 | Weekly updates | 125 seen

As of May 23, 2025, the Terramatris crypto hedge fund value stands at $6,640, showing another strong weekly growth of +5.69% or +$357 in dollar terms. 

Despite the strong market recovery, we are still -15.02% below our all-time high of $7,811 (recorded on March 6, 2025), while the fund's year-to-date performance is +16.92%. The past few weeks have been very strong for crypto markets and also for our fund. 

Anyhow, despite strong growth we are not opening new put positions until our fund is reaching at least $8,000 in value, in optimistic scenario we hope to get there in the next 3-4 months, not excluding getting faster there if the market trend continues and crypto asset prices keep climbing higher.  

While waiting, focusing on our recovery trades with…

How to Sell a Synthetic Covered Call on ETH

21 May 2025 | Crypto Options | 216 seen

At TerraMatris Crypto Hedge Fund, we actively deploy a range of options strategies to generate income and manage directional exposure. Today, I want to share an elegant and capital-efficient technique we’re using: the synthetic covered call—a method that replicates the payoff profile of a traditional covered call, without the need to hold the underlying crypto asset.

Traditionally, a covered call involves owning a crypto asset (like ETH) and selling a call option against it. This generates premium income while capping upside beyond the strike price. But what if you want to benefit from the same structure without committing capital to the spot position?

The solution is to create a synthetic long position using options and then sell a call…

Episode 91 / Crypto Fund Climbs to $6,283, Surging +6.02% This Week

16 May 2025 | Weekly updates | 65 seen

As of May 16, 2025, the Terramatris crypto hedge fund value stands at $6,283, reflecting another weekly increase of +6.02% or +$356 in dollar terms. Nice. The boost comes from strong gains in crypto prices and expired options premiums today. 

Though we are still -19.59% below our all-time high of $7,811 (recorded on March 6, 2025), while the fund's year-to-date performance is +10.63%.

We’re continuing our strategy to gradually unwind underperforming positions, aiming to buy back a bit each month. The goal is to eventually close or break even on them. In the meantime, we're selling options each week to generate premium income and support the fund.

Episode 90 / Crypto Fund Surges 15.92% Weekly

9 May 2025 | Weekly updates | 41 seen

As of May 9, 2025, the Terramatris crypto hedge fund value stands at $5,926, reflecting a  weekly increase of 15.92% or +814.15 in dollar terms. Nice. The boost comes from strong gains in crypto prices and expired options premiums today. 

Although we are still -24.16% below our all-time high of $7,811 (recorded on March 6, 2025), while the fund's year-to-date performance is +4.35%.

We’re continuing our strategy to gradually unwind underperforming positions, aiming to buy back a bit each month. The goal is to eventually close or break even on them. In the meantime, we're selling options each week to generate premium income and support the fund.

Episode 89 / ETH Buybacks & $95 in Weekly Premiums Earned

2 May 2025 | Weekly updates | 54 seen

As of May 2, 2025, the fund's value stands at $5,122, reflecting a small weekly decrease of 0.5% or -$25. Despite this dip, it was actually a strong week for us — the drop is primarily due to repaying $276 in debt, not poor performance.

We are still -34.58% below our all-time high of $7,811 (recorded on March 6, 2025), while the fund's year-to-date performance is -9.98%.

This week, we bought back 0.1 ETH from our perpetual futures and converted it into spot holdings. Our spot ETH now totals 1.94, while our ETH perpetual position is down to 2.

We’re continuing our strategy to gradually unwind underperforming positions, aiming to buy back a bit each month. The goal is to eventually close or break even on them. In the meantime, we're selling options…

Episode 88 / Crypto Fund Surges 15.1% Weekly with Options Roll & Market Rally

25 April 2025 | Weekly updates | 100 seen

As of April 25, 2025, the fund’s value has increased to $5,138 marking another significant  +15.1% week-over-week increase, equivalent to a +$673 increase in dollar terms. Despite increase, we still stand -34.25% below our all-time high of $7,811, recorded on March 6, 2025. While our YTD value has dropped to -9.53%

This week’s growth has come from both the broader market bounce and our weekly options trades. In addition, we rolled forward our monthly call options today.

Current positions in long perpetual futures (settled in USDC):

Over the past several weeks (and months), we've been generating options premium…