What is your background? How did you get introduced to trading?
I have no background in math or science; I only have a high school diploma and a few weeks of a degree in economics. I discovered Bitcoin in 2016 through a friend, who was at that time using free online lotteries that distributed BTC dust every hour.
I only understood in 2018 the real usefulness of the machine in front of me, and having only a small capital the only way to try to earn income from it was to try to trade, and a few youtube videos later I started to place my first orders.
Let’s talk about your current project, why did you decide to get into MM?
MM is a very vague term, the goal of the market maker is to make the markets more liquid, and they are paid by exchanges, brokers or token projects for this, while maintaining neutral exposure to the market.
But some entities do it on their own and use market making solely for strategy execution, and can take more risk, or at least different types of risk. I’m positioning myself on the second case.
What was your best and worst move in crypto? (position, airdrop, project, rug, whatever)
My worst move by far was my exposure to FTX before the drop.
My best move was to follow the rise of Bitcoin in early 2024. BTC as collateral to long BTC via PERP futures, a winning bet.
In your opinion, what is the essential tool for any elite trader?
In my opinion, price is the number 1 tool, then comes the orderbook in 2.
Do you have a role model in the industry?
Nomad and Arthur Hayes for their ultimately very traditional approach to the crypto market in 2016/17. Hayes’ videos about MM are still online on the Bitmex YouTube channel, I think they’re a great insight for newcomers.
What has been your biggest challenge since you started?
Stay curious, always, always try to learn more. Define your technique, your “edge” that works, and knowing what to focus on it is a good thing, but that shouldn’t prevent you from always looking at what’s happening next door.
For some time now, with ETFs and the big players around the BTC table, many edges have gone with it, some situations play out differently, and some very relevant tools have become almost useless. And this situation is greatly amplified on alts.
When you have to take a position, what do you look at most? (Sentiment, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, ‘Smart Money Concepts’, ICT, etc.)
For a directional position, liquidity via orderbook, lows and highs, the underlying trend.
For the rest we have different data on correlations and volatility
I don’t have a particular opinion on the rest, it’s part of the things I’ve also used, the most important thing remains the execution of the trade itself and the chosen risk management. It’s possible to be profitable with it, yes, it’s possible to outperform your benchmark, much harder but also possible. On the other hand, in the long term and I’m speaking personally, it has become very boring to have the job of throwing coins in a loop knowing that it has a 60% chance of falling on heads every time, without understanding anything about what’s going on behind the scenes.
Do you think the past can help us try to predict the future in trading?
Predicting the future seems complicated to me, but the past gives us a cone of probability in a certain direction, yes it doesn’t seem crazy to me.
How do you manage the stress or pressure of trading (especially during periods of high volatility)?
Pressure is fleeting but appears when you least expect it. It requires seeking protection in advance, effective hedges based on as many different situations as possible, and being ready to use them. That way, you can reduce potential stress in advance.
We must remain extremely competitive and efficient, which in turn requires real, regular moments of disconnection, without the slightest thought for the markets.
If you could give one piece of advice to the Luchap of a few years ago, who is starting out in this field, what would it be?
Be curious, ask all AIs about all the groups of financial instruments, what their relationships are, what types of players operate in what types of markets, what their goals are, and therefore what their investment types and strategies are. What advantages can you find by being a ‘small’ player that a big player cannot exploit?
