KoinlyticsOptions give you the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an asset at a specific price by a specific date. Unlike perps, options let you express nonlinear views: bet on volatility, cap downside, or express "I think this goes up 20% by month end" cheaply.
Vocabulary
- Call. Right to buy at strike.
- Put. Right to sell at strike.
- Strike. The predetermined price.
- Expiry. When the option becomes worthless if not in-the-money.
- Premium. What you pay upfront for the option.
- In-the-money (ITM). Strike is favorable vs current price.
- OTM. Strike is unfavorable; option has only time value.
Why options over perps
Perps: linear P&L, unlimited downside if unhedged, funding cost. Options: nonlinear P&L, downside capped at premium (for buyers), time decay (for buyers, negative; for sellers, positive).
The Greeks
- Delta. How much option price moves per $1 in underlying.
- Gamma. How much delta changes.
- Theta. Daily time decay.
- Vega. Sensitivity to implied volatility.
Classic strategies
- Covered call. Own ETH, sell OTM call. Pocket premium, cap upside.
- Protective put. Own ETH, buy OTM put. Insurance against a crash.
- Strangle. Buy OTM call + OTM put. Bet on big move either way.
- Iron condor. Sell OTM call + OTM put, buy further OTM to cap risk. Bet on low volatility.
Where to trade them
- Deribit. Institutional standard. Deepest BTC and ETH options.
- Aevo. Onchain L2 options exchange.
- Derive (Lyra). Onchain AMM-based options.
- Ribbon Finance. Yield vaults that sell options automatically.
The catch
Options require understanding what you are actually pricing. Buying a straddle looks like a smart way to "bet on volatility" but you are selling implied volatility (the market's price for vol) against realized (what actually happens). If IV > RV, you lose.