1/ In my last post on #Gamma I said we would talk about Gamma bands. I expect this one to be slightly controversial, so at the end, let me know what you think.

In this post, I am going to teach you how to build these Gamma bands!
2/ Here is that last post on Gamma for reference.

3/Let's begin, first we need to have a basic understanding of volatility. Volatility is expressed as an annualized number that is proportional to the square root of time. What does that mean? Simply put, it's the one standard deviation move $BTC is expected to make in a year.
4/ But if you are a short-timeframe trader that’s not really helpful, what would be helpful, however, is knowing the 1 stdev. move over the course of one day.
5/ How do we do this? Well, vol is proportional to time, $BTC trades 365 days so...

Sqrt 365=19.1
Vol = 81.98 (LXVX )

Daily volatility = Annual volatility/19.1

81.98/19= 4.31
6/ There are a few places you can find $BTC’s volatility. These bands aren't set in stone, you can tweak them, test them, and find what works best for you.

(ATM vol in the graph below.)
@laevitas1
7/ Now we need yesterday's close (at least I think that's what these pink bands use.) However, this will mean the bands are static (they won't move throughout the day.) A better way to do this would be using the VWAP. Which again, I will discuss later.
8/ Here they seem to be using 42,832-ish (I'm just going to use this number.) To get the useful one stdev move we need to take the closing price of $BTC and * it by the Daily Vol from above (4.3%.)

Close price $42,832*4.3% = 1,837

btw notice the bounces over the last few days
9/ The last thing we need to do is adjust for the 25d skew in the market. Skew is the 25d calls - 25d puts. If we don’t adjust for this the bands will be equidistance from our close price every time we run the numbers, and not as accurate. (more on skew later)
10/ Now let's build the bands. First, add and subtract our 1 stdev move (1,837) from our close price of 42k and adjust for skew, voilà we have our 1 gamma up move, and 1 gamma down move.

You can see in the simple spreadsheet below they are $1,758 up and $1,916 down.
11/ Here is the formula. It's pretty simple, just get the daily move and adjust for skew then +/- it from the closing price.

$42,832+$1,758 = Upper band $44,590
$42,832 + $1,916 = Lower band $40,915
12/ How did this line up with the next day's pink bands?

Our calculation had the top band around 44.5k and lower around 40.9k, right? I would say it's pretty close.

(Notice where resistance is right now. Remember this band was formed when $BTC was under 42k. 👇)
13/ So earlier I said this version was static, I think a better way to do this is to use VWAP as your input instead of the closing price. Using VWAP throughout the day will give you dynamic bands. I’m not going to go into this because @laevitas has built the bands for you.
14/ Again, these band don’t work perfectly (so don't @ me), if there is a massive flow incoming the bands will get blown out, but if you read our last thread on gamma, you should have a simple understanding of how large books hedge and move...
15/ ...they are dynamic, as they gain Deltas/Gamma they offload them, and as they lose Deltas/Gammas they buy them back.
16/ As an example maybe they have a massive call position, and the price of $BTC starts moving up, they might start offloading deltas by selling them, or locking them in via the perp, etc etc. These bands offer possible levels where this type of gamma hedging MIGHT occur.
17/ So what do you think would happen if a large book was long a strangle and the price of $BTC started ripping higher? How would you manage that position?
18/ That’s all I got for now, this isn’t financial advice, tweak it, test it, figure it out for yourself.

Shout out to @macrohedged for teaching me about skew and these bands last year.
19/ As always, I would love your thoughts, even if you disagree. I don't hold anything with a closed fist and I'm always open to learning.

@Mtrl_Scientist @laevitas1 @tztokchad @TraderSkew @DeribitExchange @PowerTradeHQ @samchepal @GenesisVol @MrBenLilly

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More from @ResearchVariant

6 Aug
Petition to let Variant back into the @unlimitedcope discord. I did nothing wrong, and yet the bot sent me to the gulag. I maintain my innocence. Please vote for this petition with a like, or tag @cyrii_MM. haha 😀🙏
Guys, I hold a solid amount of $COPE, how can I not be in the discord? Its just not right, plus I need a $COPE hoodie in my life. I've been ostracized long enough. :)

@cyrii_MM @unlimitedcope
I'm not going to let this one go until I get back in. I'm going to tweet about it everyday. Daily petition.
Read 6 tweets
31 Jul
1/ A lot of people have been talking about Gamma recently. So I thought I'd offer a few thoughts.

I want to explain gamma in the simplest way possible. So lets just start with what it is. Gamma is a second order derivative, essentially, it measures the rate of Deltas change.
2/ Remember last weeks thread, Delta is the rate of change of your Option contracts price. I'll link that thread below.

For this thread, just remember, Gamma dictates how Delta changes.

3/ Lets quickly look at a simple example. If you have a Option contract worth $10, a delta of .50, and a gamma of .05, what would happen if the underlying ( $BTC ) moved up $1? Your Option would be worth $10.5 (adding the delta) and your new delta would be .55 ( +.05 gamma).
Read 14 tweets
24 Jul
1/ Lets briefly talk about Option pricing, more specifically the Greek called Delta.

An important thing to remember is Option prices are influenced by a few factors, not just the directional movement of $BTC. Compartmentalize in your mind Option contract prices and $BTC price.
2/ To price Options we feed inputs into a model and it spits out the theoretical price for that specific option. The Greek called Delta is the Option price rate of change relative to every one dollar move in the underlying ($BTC). Photo ripped directly from Investopedia lolz.
3/ A simple example. Lets say our Option contract is worth $2000 with a Delta of .50, and $BTC is trading at $30,000, what would happen if $BTC were to move to $31,000? Our Option contract would now be worth $2500. Note: It wont be perfect because there are other variables...
Read 14 tweets
17 Jul
1/ A discussion was had in our discord about selling vol and risk. Here is a simple way to sell vol while mitigating risk. A short thread on selling put spreads...
2/ Simply put (ha) to sell a Put spread you sell a Put closer to the ATM strike and buy a Put further down the strike ladder. If we would have sold the 31k Put and bought the 28k Put, the PnL curve would look something like the graphic above.
3/ If $BTC remains higher than 31k (at the time of the Options expiration) we keep the difference in premiums between the Put sold and the Put bought. But if $BTC goes below 28k we simply lose the difference between the two strikes (known risk.) Allow me to elaborate...
Read 14 tweets

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