Hedging with crypto options is a crucial strategy financial advisors use to protect their portfolios against significant losses. By taking on different crypto positions, you can garner profits or reduce your portfolio risk.
Of course, you must know what hedging means and how to go about doing it properly. This article will provide all the information you need to start hedging with crypto options.
What is hedging?
Hedging maximizes profits and minimizes risk by taking on different positions in various assets. In short, it’s a way to reduce vulnerability by taking on different positions and assets.
To hedge is to take up two different assets or options with the same name, usually to protect against losses or mitigate any gains if the currency or asset goes up or down significantly. Hedging with options is a powerful method to hedge because the price of an option is based on the price of its underlying asset.
How do you go about hedging with crypto options?
For hedging with options, you can take on two different positions with the same name. For example, if you want to protect your Bitcoin position, then take on the Bitcoin call option. Traders use this strategy in order to reduce the risk of a drop in the price of Bitcoin.
Another way you can hedge is by taking on a long position and shorting other crypto assets or shorting a specific coin. You can even do both and increase your profits or reduce your losses even further if you’re dealing with multiple currency positions.
The most convenient way to hedge is by going long on an option contract with Bitcoin’s underlying asset. It’s possible to short other coins, but it can be quite difficult and risky. However, you can use leverage in order to go short on a coin like Ethereum while still hedging your Bitcoin position.
An ideal setup would be to take a long position in Bitcoin and cover that by taking on a short position on Ethereum. This way, you can get more profit without taking too much risk into the equation.
Here is an example of how you can hedge with options in the case of Bitcoin and Ethereum; The price of Bitcoin is currently around $7,200. The low point for this price is around $5,350. Since it’s a long-term investment for us and we’re not expecting any new growth, we will take on a long Bitcoin position with our options contract.
Since we are not expecting any dips in the price, we can go long with a far OTM call option. A $5,350 strike price gives us plenty of room to grow without taking too much risk or the contract expiring in the money.
Now for Ethereum, and this is where we hedge. We want to take on a position that has opposite effects from Bitcoin. Ethereum’s price is around $240. Its lowest price point is $98, so we’re using that as our strike price for our options contract.
Since Ethereum’s price is prone to drops, we want to take advantage of that by setting up a short position on our options contract. This way, if the price drops, we can still cash in on the profits from our Bitcoin position.
By taking on these different positions, you are protecting your portfolio from losses. If one asset takes a dip, then you can make up for it with gains in the other asset. The best thing about options is that they are completely customizable, and there’s no limit to how far you want to go with your hedging strategies.
How do you set up your hedging strategies?
Here are the steps you need to take in order to set up your hedging strategies.
1. You first need to make sure you’re on the correct exchanges for your crypto. The best place for this is Binance. They have everything you need, and their platform is very user-friendly.
2. Choose a pair of assets that have similar performance, if not identical, and make sure the pairs are in different pairs of currencies. This is important because you don’t want to go long on one currency while shorting on another; you need at least two different currency pairs to hedge your portfolio effectively.
3. You can use a strategy like taking on a long position in one asset and covering it with a short position in the other. This works best when you’re not expecting any abrupt movements in price. If you want to hedge against price drops, then an option is the perfect choice for you.
4. You can also choose to go short on one asset while going long on another. This is a great strategy when you want to capitalize on significant gains while still keeping your downside protected by hedging against losses.
5. Consider using leverage if you want to take on these positions or if it’s part of your hedging strategy.
6. Use margin trading for any leveraged positions. This will amplify your profits and offset any losses.
7. Don’t forget to set up all the necessary protections in place, like stop loss orders and limit orders ready to be executed in case of market volatility.
Many cryptocurrency strategies are based on speculation and come with high-risk factors. Still, hedging with options is a very easy practice that can be used automatically without much effort. These strategies are available for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many more.
In conclusion, options are a powerful tool for hedging and protecting your position from price fluctuations. It’s the best way to protect your portfolio while making consistent profits. Be sure to use this guide on how to hedge with crypto options.
