The Defiant

In this week’s call we were joined by Wade from Opyn, a decentralized options protocol on Ethereum, who discussed the various automated options strategies that they have launched.

Opyn launched V2 of their protocol in December 2020, which served as the infrastructure for many DeFi option vaults. They noticed that users preferred to use automated strategies over trading options on their own and launched Squeeth, an option product that allows people to get ETH leverage without the possibility of being liquidated on the long side.

The strategies available on Squeeth include the Crab strategy and the Zen Bull strategy, which allow users to deposit funds and have the contract handle all actions automatically.

The Crab strategy and the Zen Bull strategy, compared to some DeFi option vaults, do not have a lockup period for deposits, making them 24/7 liquid, allowing users to withdraw their funds at any time.

The best case scenario for Zen bull is if you deposit ETH and the price of ETH slowly rises. So you’re staying within those price bands, you’re earning ETH returns and the price of ETH is like slowly going up.

ETH

The trend line from the all-time high was casually broken last week, and we’re getting confirmation this week.

The major moving averages were pushed through except for the 200dma, which is the line between a bullish and bearish trend.

Expecting 1380-1400 on this rally.

If you are holding a leveraged long position it might be time to start taking some profits as we approach the upper area of the range.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin has been lagging lately.

There is momentum and volume behind this move, many different tokens are rallying, not just the big ones yet.

Litecoin

The chart looks constructive because it is above its 200-day average.

It is in a better position, technically speaking, compared to Bitcoin or ETH.

Has spent almost six months in a range-bound zone, which suggests the next move will likely have legs in whichever direction it breaks.

Trading in line with broader crypto.

Liquid Staking Protocols

I believe that these protocols will benefit as people who staked ETH directly may not want to keep running their own validators and choose to stake through LSDs.

Until now, it’s been a one-way trade where you can only put ETH into the protocols, with no withdrawals. This is why most of the LSDs trade at a discount. However, once withdrawals are enabled and LSDs can be redeemed for ETH directly, it’s likely that the discount will go away, and they’ll trade one-to-one.

The rallies in these tokens seem overdone.

GALA

Huge move caused by the potential collaboration with The Rock. Keep an eye out to confirm if this current trend continues over the next few days. Currently, it has risen above the 200dma for the first time since April of last year.

NFTs

The high demand we saw in December has continued into January. A lot of the increased volume is due to Blur and the airdrop they’ve promised for people who place bids on their platform.

It will be interesting to see if the market can continue this trend after the airdrop is over at the end of the month. The overall NFT ecosystem seems strong and the community is engaged. However, it remains to be seen if this is a sustainable trend or if it is just a temporary spike caused by flippers who will dump and move on.

The Captainz

Highly hyped Memeland mint from 9gag.

Despite the high demand for whitelist spots, the price action for The Captainz collection has not lived up to the hype.

This trend of disappointment in hype-driven mints has been seen with other collections as well.

BasedHeads

Robin’s project sold out a 10K collection at a relatively high price, which is impressive given the current market conditions.

The success is attributed to his strong connections and relationships within the NFT and crypto communities, as well as a well-executed and short marketing period.

I’m glad I was able to get some whitelist spots for you guys and hope everyone who signed up was able to mint.

Tip: It is crucial to consider the distribution of NFTs when considering purchasing a collection. Having a large portion of the supply in a few wallets can lead to instability and price drops from large holders selling off their holdings. A healthy distribution, with most holders only owning a small amount, can lead to a sustainable rally. This is also true for token purchases, where an unequal distribution among top holders should be avoided.