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EthDeribitTrendLongConvexityCheapIvRoll

Hypotheses

ETH Deribit Long-Convexity Directional Trend Capture, Long-Short via Cheap Options (DERIBIT ~30-delta single-leg call/put, ~30 DTE, entered on a SLOW daily-trend sign ONLY when option IV is NOT rich, biweekly roll, defined-risk premium spend)

Hypotheses

A LONG-only-premium (never short vol), single-leg, one-position-at-a-time DIRECTIONAL options strategy on DERIBIT ETH options... [fills options 0-6% bucket, long_short, and cross-venue; avoids short-vol / skew-fade / perp-momentum-gate graveyards]

Hypotheses

Implements the hypothesis literally: LONG-only premium (leg_sides BUY for both kinds, never a short-vol leg), single-leg, one-position-at-a-time, ~30-delta (offset +-0.07) ~28-DTE Deribit ETH contracts from the framework's rolling weekly chain, entered on the SIGN of a slow daily trend and gated by an 'IV not rich' filter (DVOL iv_rank <= 0.65 and IV/RV <= 1.45), with a biweekly cadence enforced calendar-wise (min_days_between_entries measured from the bar timestamps of the previous entry, plus max_hold_days = 14). Structure follows RollingOptionsStrategy exactly (chain + schedule injected by the framework); there is no underlying smoke path and no price-only fallback: if the chain is absent or DVOL is missing/stale the strategy trades nothing. The four required hooks are all live — calculate_signal returns the continuous trend gap every bar, should_enter thresholds it (side is always BUY because direction is expressed by the contract KIND), should_exit is the trend-flip exit, and position_size converts a premium budget into contracts. Venue is DERIBIT (options, leverage 1.0, 0.03% per side) as the hypothesis specifies; per-bar work is O(1) (memoized metrics, a schedule cursor, bounded buffers) and lookback_days=730 keeps the chain at ~208 legs, a size that has completed the Layer-3 options sandbox before. One reservation, stated once: buying premium is structurally short the (positive) crypto VRP, so the whole edge rests on the IV-not-rich gate plus trend persistence — I implemented it as asked.

Hypotheses

data_wall: unmeasurable / insufficient statistical power: the strategy produced only 12 option trades over the full available ETH-Deribit option history (legs span ~2024-08 to 2026-09, ~2 years), with Sharpe 0.389 on a CI [-1.46, 1.46] that straddles zero and PSR 0.53 — non-diagnostic. This is NOT a fee/expectancy failure (Deribit RT ~0.06% is trivial vs premium moves, realized expectancy +$450/trade, PF 1.35); the problem is that the mechanism is structurally too slow to validate. Biweekly cadence gated further by a double vol filter extrapolates to only ~40-45 trades over ALL of history, so 2 hours of 3-phase optimization would only curve-fit ~12 trades of noise (walk-forward windows holding ~4 trades each, holdout a handful). The trades correctly implement the hypothesis (7 calls/5 puts by trend sign, ~0.69 IV, ~28 DTE, positive delta/vega, negative theta) so this is not a broken mechanism, but the sample cannot statistically support a promote decision and cannot be enlarged by tuning. QA's structural concern (long premium = short the persistently positive crypto VRP, edge hinges entirely on the IV-not-rich gate + trend extending past strike) is unresolvable on 12 observations, and the book already went negative in 2026. abandon_class = unmeasurable.

Implementation

Directional LONG-PREMIUM option roll on Deribit ETH weeklies. Every ~2 weeks, when a slow daily trend on ETH-PERPETUAL (20d vs 80d SMA gap) is decisively signed AND implied vol is NOT rich (Deribit DVOL at/below the 65th percentile of its trailing year AND <= 1.45x 20-day realized vol), the strategy BUYS a single ~30-delta (+-7% moneyness) ~28-DTE option: a call in an uptrend, a put in a downtrend. It never sells an option, so maximum loss per cycle is the premium paid (sized to 3% of equity) while the payoff is convex if the trend extends. One position at a time; exits on a 14-day max hold (the biweekly roll), the 7-day pre-expiry roll buffer, a trend flip against the leg, a -55% premium stop or a +120% premium take-profit. The underlying perp is never traded — it only supplies the trend clock and the realized-vol reference.

Verification Results

Verify the base RollingOptionsStrategy/FactoryStrategy warmup path still functions with the override, or rename to an internal helper (e.g. _min_bars) if the shadow is unintended.

Verification Results

min_bars_required(self) overrides a framework method (flagged by static analysis as base_shadow). The base template may rely on its own warmup gate; the override returns trend_slow_days+5 which is a sane, larger warmup so behavior is not broken, but confirm the base does not depend on the original.

Verification Results

Consider deriving the leg's quote currency from the instrument definition rather than a 1.0 magnitude threshold, so sizing is robust if a leg ever quotes in USD near/above 1.0.

Verification Results

position_size infers option premium denomination by magnitude (premium_px < 1.0 -> treat as coin premium and multiply by spot; else treat as USD). This heuristic is reasonable for ~30-delta ETH options (coin premium typically 0.02-0.08 ETH) but is a soft assumption; a mis-classified quote would mis-size the debit.

Verification Results

Long-premium single-leg buying is structurally SHORT the (persistently positive) crypto VRP: the whole edge rests on the 'IV-not-rich' gate (DVOL iv_rank<=0.65 AND IV<=1.45x RV) plus the trend actually extending past the strike before theta bleeds the debit. The developer acknowledges this. Sandbox is mildly favorable (total_return +5.4%, PF 1.35) but on only 12 trades with a Sharpe CI of [-1.46, 1.46] straddling zero, so it is non-diagnostic. Also note trade cadence: ~12 trades over 640 sandbox days extrapolates to only ~40-45 over full ETH-Deribit/DVOL history (biweekly cadence further cut by the double vol gate), so the full backtest may be near the low end of statistical power. Advisory only — carry to the analyst for the real full-history read; do not block.

Backtest Review

Long-premium single-leg convexity — the correct sign vs the short-vol graveyard (max loss = defined debit), and the trades match the hypothesis: 7 calls in uptrends / 5 puts in downtrends, ~0.69 avg IV at entry, ~28 DTE, ~0.99 moneyness, net_entry_delta and vega positive, theta negative (paying for convexity as intended).

Backtest Review

Deribit fee (~0.06% RT) is trivial vs premium moves, so this is NOT a fee-floor casualty; realized expectancy is positive (+$450/trade, PF 1.35, +5.4% total).

Backtest Review

Only 12 option trades produced over the entire available ETH-Deribit option window (legs exist ~2024-08 -> 2026-09, ~2 years). Sharpe 0.389 with CI [-1.46, 1.46] straddling zero and PSR 0.53 — statistically non-diagnostic.

Backtest Review

The cadence is structurally rare: biweekly roll further cut by the double vol gate (DVOL rank<=0.65 AND IV<=1.45x RV). Over full history this extrapolates to only ~40-45 trades at best, so the mechanism cannot generate a validatable sample even after optimization.

Backtest Review

Optimizing 15+ parameters against 12 trades would curve-fit noise, not find an edge. Walk-forward windows would hold ~4 trades each and the holdout a handful.

Backtest Review

Directionally the book already turned negative in 2026 (-4.9%), and QA's structural concern (long premium is short the persistently positive crypto VRP, edge rests entirely on the IV-not-rich gate + trend extending past strike) cannot be resolved on 12 observations.

Outcome Summary

EthDeribitTrendLongConvexityCheapIvR-e7b6731617

Outcome Summary

EthDeribitTrendLongConvexityCheapIvRoll correctly implemented its thesis — buying cheap ~30-delta ETH options in the direction of a slow trend only when IV was not rich, giving defined-risk convexity that is the opposite sign of the factory's short-vol graveyard. The realized numbers were even mildly favorable: +$450 average trade, 1.35 profit factor, +5.4% total return, with Deribit's ~0.06% round-trip fee trivial next to premium moves. But over the entire available option window it fired only 12 times, producing a Sharpe of 0.389 whose confidence interval straddled zero, and the biweekly-plus-double-vol-gate cadence would top out near ~40-45 trades across all history. On its first iteration the analyst abandoned it at backtest review as unmeasurable — a well-built mechanism that simply cannot trade often enough to prove it has an edge.

Outcome Summary

A mechanism whose entry cadence is inherently rare cannot generate enough trades to validate an edge no matter how favorable the per-trade economics, so trade frequency must be checked against statistical power before committing to a slow-signal options structure.

Outcome Summary

The analyst abandoned it at the pre-optimization backtest-review gate: not a fee or expectancy failure, but a data wall — the biweekly cadence plus double vol gate is structurally too slow (extrapolating to only ~40-45 trades over all history), so 12 trades cannot statistically support a promote decision and optimizing 15+ parameters against them would only curve-fit noise.

Outcome Summary

A long-premium, single-leg ~30-delta ETH Deribit options roll that bought a call in a slow daily uptrend or a put in a downtrend, but only when implied vol was not rich (DVOL rank <=0.65 and IV <=1.45x realized), to capture directional convexity with defined risk (max loss = premium paid).

Outcome Summary

Over ~2 years of available ETH-Deribit option history it produced just 12 option trades (7 calls / 5 puts) with a positive expectancy of +$450/trade, profit factor 1.35, and +5.4% total return, but a Sharpe of only 0.389 on a CI of [-1.46, 1.46] and PSR 0.53. Win rate was 33% and max drawdown 6.9%.
Strategy report

Backtest and paper results are hypothetical. Trading involves risk of loss.