Event-Driven Trading
Overview
Event-driven trading capitalises on price dislocations caused by scheduled and unscheduled catalysts — earnings announcements, FOMC meetings, governance votes, protocol upgrades, token unlocks, mergers, and geopolitical shocks. The edge comes from correctly anticipating the event's impact or exploiting the volatility expansion around it.
Key Concepts
Implied vs realised volatility around events. Earnings surprises and guidance revisions. Token unlock schedules and supply shocks. Protocol upgrades and hard forks. Mergers, acquisitions, and spin-offs. Regulatory announcements and legal rulings.
Entry Signals
Pre-event: straddle/strangle if volatility is cheap relative to history. Directional: position before event if strong thesis. Post-event: trade the fade or continuation after initial reaction settles into clear structure.
Exit Signals
Volatility crush after event (close straddles). Initial reaction reversed significantly. Target hit or thesis invalidated by the actual event outcome.
Best Timeframes
15-minute to 4H for intraday events (FOMC, earnings). Daily for multi-day events (token unlocks). Weekly for structural events (hard forks, regulatory).
Pro Tips
Never risk your entire account on a single event. Use options or small position sizes to limit binary risk. The second move after an event (the 're-think') often provides better setups than the initial spike.
More Topics in This Category
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Crypto On-Chain Fundamentals
On-chain fundamental analysis examines blockchain data to assess the health, adoption, and valuation of crypto assets. Unlike traditional fundamental analysis that uses corporate financial statements, on-chain analysis leverages transparent blockchain data — active addresses, transaction volumes, exchange flows, holder distribution, and network fees — to evaluate whether a crypto asset is accumulating value or showing signs of weakness.
Qualitative Factor Analysis
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Macro Trading
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