State of Market Neutral Trading

Philip Simotas of New Form Liquid Capital Management moderated a technical discussion with market neutral strategy leaders Paul Howard (Wincent) and Shiliang Tang (Monarq). The panel explored the often-overlooked world of steady, low-volatility digital asset trading and the infrastructure and risk management frameworks powering their long-term success.

Core Themes or Shifts

Panelists emphasized that market neutral crypto strategies - rooted in arbitrage, basis trades, and volatility harvesting - offer strong returns with comparatively low risk. The strategy is gaining attention as crypto markets mature and become more institutionally accessible. Simotas highlighted the resilience of these funds, including through downturns like FTX, and showed data-backed outperformance relative to traditional asset classes.

Key Strategic Insights

Howard detailed Wincent’s focus on market making and constrained exposure to long-tail tokens, while Tang explained Monarq’s multi-strategy approach, including discounted secondary token purchases. Both highlighted the shift away from simple arbitrage to more scalable strategies, and the rising role of institutional infrastructure like off-exchange custody and cloud computing. Importantly, both noted that AI and data-driven tools are now integral to identifying edge and risk.