2026-05-08 –, Sladkovský Stage
What does market neutral crypto actually look like in 2026? A strategy-by-strategy breakdown: funding arb, onchain market making, DeFi yield, CeFi lending, options. From a hedge fund investment analyst who lives in this space.
A bit about me: I'm a crypto investment analyst at Sygnum Bank's asset management team, where I do hedge fund selection for two fund-of-funds products. I have a crypto native background, I’m active onchain since 2020, worked directly for DeFi protocols, and co-founded Stay on-chain, a newsletter on crypto and defi markets. I joined Sygnum about two years ago, first in the custody and DeFi team, then moved into asset management. My area of focus in asset management, personally and professionally, is market neutral strategies in crypto. The products I'm most closely involved with are the Sygnum Crypto Yield Fund, the Digital Asset Multi-Manager Fund and the Bitcoin Alpha Fund. I do crypto hedge fund selection and talk to managers managing market neutral books in DeFi, and in general crypto, on a daily basis. (This is just to introduce myself, it won't be a sales pitch, I'm not a BD)
What would the talk be about
Market neutral is the strategy category institutions are comfortable with the most when they want crypto exposure (given no directional volatility). I want to explain what type of strategies we are talking about and how the space actually looks like right now, in a bear market, from someone who spends their days evaluating managers running these books. TLDR: Market neutral crypto is maturing and fragmenting simultaneously. Some strategies are dead, some have shifted venue, some products, some are new.
Topics I would cover:
• Funding rate arbitrage: the most widely known strategy, now deeply crowded. Why it worked, how it got commoditised, where it stands today. Protocols like Ethena a brief mention as structured expressions of this trade
• Cross-venue price and funding arb: still alive but increasingly niche. The golden period last year driven by points farming campaigns across perp DEXs.
• Classic market making and perp DEX vaults: how market making has evolved onchain, including products like Hyperliquid's HLP and other.
• DeFi LP-ing, yield farming and lending strategies: the broader category, what still works, what's been farmed to much. Loopings, pendle leveraged strategies, private liquidity deals etc.
• CeFi lending: an underappreciated but significant strategy in institutional crypto portfolios.
• Options, the new carry? : OI has been growing steadily. I want to make the case that options are emerging in crypto as the market matures.
Crypto investment analyst at Sygnum Bank's asset management team, focused on hedge fund selection and market neutral strategies. Active onchain since 2020, former DeFi protocol contributor, and co-founder of Stay on-chain, a newsletter covering crypto and DeFi markets.