Strategies
BTC LONG-GAMMA When Implied Vol Is CHEAP vs Realized — Deribit Short-Dated ATM Straddle BOUGHT on an INVERTED Variance Risk Premium (DVOL index < trailing realized vol), Delta-Hedged on a Band with the Binance Perp, Held to Vol Repricing or Expiry-1d (Cross-Venue, Market-Neutral Delta, 3-Parameter)
Outcome: Abandoned
BtcDeribitInvertedVrpLongGammaBandHedgedStraddle
Outcome Summary
The strategy deliberately inverted the factory's short-premium options work: buy 4-7 DTE Deribit ATM straddles only in weeks where DVOL implied vol was below trailing realized vol, and delta-hedge on a band with the Binance perp so the hedge harvests the realized path instead of paying a rebalancing tax. Mechanically it worked as designed — 38 gated cycles, both legs always entered together, 27 band-hedge round trips, and a hedge leg that was actually mildly profitable at +$1,588. But the edge itself did not exist: the long straddle legs lost $8,447 with only 5 of 38 cycles profitable, producing Sharpe -1.65, profit factor 0.663 and -3.43% total return, negative in all three calendar years. The analyst abandoned it at backtest review rather than spending optimization hours, attributing the failure to a horizon mismatch — a 30-day implied index versus ~5-day trailing realized vol — that made the gate fire after mean-reverting vol bursts while paying positive-VRP carry every cycle.
Hypothesis
Negative expectancy on a reliable sample, with the loss located precisely in the mechanism the hypothesis is about. Across 38 gated weekly cycles the LONG straddle legs lost $8,447 and only 5 of 38 cycles were profitable on the option leg, while the band delta hedge was fine (+$1,588 net of fees) — so this is not a hedging or fee artifact. The gate does not select weeks whose subsequent realized vol exceeds the implied vol paid: PF 0.663, Sharpe -1.65, expectancy -$66.59/trade, negative in all three calendar years. Contributing design flaw: a 30-day implied index compared against ~5-day trailing realized vol to buy 4-7 DTE gamma fires after vol bursts that mean-revert. Optimization cannot rescue a structure whose core leg wins 5 of 38 cycles while paying positive-VRP carry every cycle.
Implementation
Backtest Review
- Sharpe
- -1.65
- Total return
- -3.43%
- Max drawdown
- 3.69%
- Trades
- 103
- Win rate
- 41.7%
- Profit factor
- 0.66
Mechanism implemented as described: 38 gated weekly cycles, both straddle legs entered together (38 calls / 38 puts), 27 band-hedge round trips, no underlying-only fallback.
The delta hedge is not the problem — the perp leg was mildly profitable (+$1,588 net of $306 commissions).
Genuinely differentiated: delta-neutral long gamma on an under-represented venue using the previously unused DVOL series.
Negative expectancy on a reliable sample: 103 trades / 38 cycles, profit_factor 0.663, Sharpe -1.65, expectancy -$66.59/trade, total_return -3.43%.
The gamma leg IS the loss: option legs -$8,447 with only 5 of 38 cycles profitable — the 'DVOL < trailing RV' gate has no forward selectivity.
Losses are broad: all three calendar years negative, omega 0.36, tail_ratio 0.0, 551-day max drawdown duration, avg_loss > avg_win at a 41.7% win rate.
Horizon mismatch: 30-day DVOL vs ~5-day trailing RV, then buying 4-7 DTE gamma — fires after short-horizon vol bursts that mean-revert (adverse selection for a gamma buyer).
avg_trade_return_pct 2.89% is premium-notional and not fee-comparable for a long-premium structure; the honest read is the realized $ P&L.
Outcome Summary
A 30-day implied-vol index compared against ~5-day trailing realized vol has no forward selectivity for 4-7 DTE gamma — it fires after short-horizon vol bursts that mean-revert, so horizon-matched IV/RV measurement is a prerequisite for any long-gamma gate.
The backtest-review gate returned 'abandon' before optimization: negative expectancy on a reliable sample with Sharpe, profit factor, total return and winning-cycle count all failing, and the loss located precisely in the mechanism being tested. Optimization, analyst and risk stages were never reached.
Buy short-dated ATM BTC straddles on Deribit only when Deribit's DVOL implied-vol index printed below trailing realized vol (an inverted variance risk premium), delta-neutralizing on a band with the BTCUSDT.BINANCE perp to harvest realized gamma.
Over 669 days of data and 103 trades across 38 gated weekly cycles it returned -3.43% with Sharpe -1.65, profit factor 0.663, a 41.7% win rate and expectancy of -$66.59 per trade. The loss sat in the option legs (-$8,447, only 5 of 38 cycles profitable) while the band delta hedge on the perp was mildly positive (+$1,588 net of $306 commissions).
Backtest and paper results are hypothetical. Trading involves risk of loss.