A Quant Trader’s View on Bitcoin with Sam Trabucco

 
 

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“Long term, yes bitcoin’s price is moving, in general it’s moving up...the short term moves where sometimes it goes up 20% then down 20% the next week, that’s driven by the leverage I think more than anything.”
— Sam Trabucco

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Location: Remotely
Date: Monday 9th August
Company: Alameda Research
Role: Co-CEO, Quant Trader

While the Bitcoin market has grown massively over the last few years, in comparison to traditional markets, it is still somewhat immature. 

With a large number of inexperienced retail participants and derivative platforms offering huge leverage, just one tweet from an eccentric billionaire or a significant piece of news can cause huge volatility and cascading liquidations.

These periods of high volatility are when most traders look to profit. However, a quantitative trader approaches the market a little differently. Quant traders rely on data, algorithms and bots to execute billions of dollars in daily trading at incredibly high frequency.

So how does quant trading work in the Bitcoin market, and what impact do they have on the price action?

In this interview, I talk to Sam Trabucco, Co-CEO and Quant Trader at Alameda Research. We discuss the role of a market maker, sentiment & momentum in Bitcoin and if there is too much leverage in the system.

TIMESTAMPS

00:02:57: Introductions
00:03:57: Sam's background
00:06:40: Maths camp
00:07:16: Quant trading explained
00:12:27: Responsibility around leverage
00:16:41: Market making
00:26:49: Talking volatility
00:37:08: Sam's $29,000 call
00:41:03: News affecting price
00:44:27: Understanding the candlesticks
00:47:54: Market negativity brings a bullish feel
00:50:28: The psychology of $100,000
00:52:41: Short- and long-term projections
01:03:42: Final comments

 

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SHOW NOTES

PodcastPeter McCormack