Blockchain Investing Strategies: Cryptocurrency Trading Guide podcast.

I’m Crypto Willy, and this week’s playbook is all about marrying macro signals with disciplined crypto execution. With Tuesday’s U.S. CPI print expected at roughly 2.8% year-on-year, Alice Liu at CoinMarketCap told DL News the data could “lock in expectations for a September Fed rate cut,” a setup that’s historically bullish for risk assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin chopped near $118k–$122k and ETH outperformed over the weekend—classic pre-event positioning where funding normalizes and options flow migrates to protective puts and opportunistic calls. According to DL News and CoinDesk, BTC hovered near $118,500–$119,600, while options desks like Paradigm saw hefty flow in BTC $115k puts (Aug 13) and demand for $150k September calls—translation: traders hedged the downside but kept upside tickets open.

Here’s the alpha I’m acting on:
- When CPI risk looms, I tighten risk: smaller position sizes, wider stop buffers, and I ladder limit orders around key levels. With BTC open interest near lows since April on CME and ETH OI rising, per CoinDesk, I prefer relative-strength pairs—ETHBTC bounces, selective SOL or TRX rotations—and I avoid chasing green candles into the print.
- Funding tells the story. CoinDesk flagged XMR perpetual funding north of 200% annualized—arbitrage candy for market-neutral players (spot long, perp short). For BTC/ETH with funding ~10%, I’ll only lean long if spot bid and options skew confirm; otherwise I scalp ranges and let CPI decide trend.
- TVL flows are the heartbeat. Ethena crossed $11.9B TVL, joining the “$10B club,” which supports a thesis for non-staking yield models gaining share. I segment capital: 60% BTC/ETH core, 25% DeFi yield and basis trades (Ethena-style neutral strategies), 15% event-driven alts and NFTs.

Speaking of DeFi and NFTs, Binance Research reported a 23.6% jump in DeFi TVL in July and a 5.1% expansion in stablecoins, with regulatory tailwinds helping USDC while USDT kept dominance. That backdrop plus Ethereum reclaiming NFT leadership (CryptoPunks whale bought 45 pieces, jump-starting a 49.9% market rebound) tells me liquidity is creeping back to risk-on corners—but it’s selective. I rotate into liquid blue-chip NFTs on pullbacks and farm points in high-TVL apps—never more than 10–15% of portfolio in illiquids, tight slippage controls, and auto-sell rules if floors crack.

Now, the gotchas. Coinpedia flagged a 2–3% market pullback into today with $442M in 24h liquidations and $653M in weekly token unlocks—DOGE, ARB, SUI feeling the supply pinch. When unlock calendars are heavy, I fade weak bounces in those names and prefer hedged baskets: long spot, short perp, capture funding; or pair trades like long quality L2, short overextended meme beta. If BTC’s $118k support fails, I expect a liquidity vacuum toward daily 200-EMA equivalents across majors—so I keep stop-losses mechanical and avoid knife-catching.

Execution checklist I’m using this week:
- Macro: If CPI cools and Fed cut odds rise, I add to BTC/ETH on reclaim of intraday VWAP with confirmation from rising spot CVD and decreasing put skew. If CPI runs hot, I flip to defense: raise cash, hold delta-neutral, harvest funding.
- Derivatives: Staggered call spreads into September on ETH if skew stays friendly; protective puts on BTC through week’s end while OI is depressed.
- On-chain: Favor protocols with rising real yield/TVL (Ethena cohort). Avoid farms with ponzinomics signals—watch net issuance, revenue, and user retention.
- Risk: 1–2% portfolio risk per trade, max 5 concurrent risk-on positions, daily VaR cap, and pre-set unlock/event blackout windows.

Stay nimble, trade the tape, and let data—not hope—write your PnL. Thanks for tuning in, come back next week for more. This has been a Quiet Please production. For me, check out QuietPlease dot AI.

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