On The Brink with Castle Island Huf Haus (Pear Protocol) on Trading Strategies Across Crypto Cycles (EP.655)
Aug 13, 2025
Huf Haus, founder of Pear Protocol, has a strong background in traditional financial markets, focusing on trading strategies. He explores the intriguing world of pair trading and its benefits in volatile crypto markets. The conversation highlights innovative strategies like volatility selling and basket trading, delving into the complexities of funding rates. Huf also discusses how AI is transforming trading efficiency and emphasizes the importance of adapting methods to tackle market inefficiencies. The impact of privacy for institutional traders and the evolution of trading platforms adds to the rich discussion.
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Episode notes
Relative Performance Over Market Direction
- Pair trading gives pseudo market-neutral exposure by longing one asset and shorting another simultaneously.
- Traders focus on relative outperformance rather than broad market direction.
Successful Pair Trades Inspired Pair
- Huf recalled pair trades during the Ethereum merge: long ETH and short ETC, and during FTX where they shorted Solana and went long Atom.
- Those trades worked well and motivated building a dedicated platform.
Use Perps To Leverage Pair Trades
- Use perpetual futures for pair trades to access embedded leverage and reduce net funding cost between legs.
- Offset funding by pairing a long with a short so overall carry becomes cheaper.