Kool Krypto: The Story Behind The Anon DeFi Investor and What He's Betting On This Cycle

<p>Kool Krypto is an anonymous DeFi investor and fund manager who&#39;s been in crypto since 2010.</p><p>In this episode, he shares his remarkable journey at just 13 mining Bitcoin, to discovering DeFi through ETHLend, and later landing a fund seeded by a prominent New York family office after a fateful poker game. We get a crash course on onchain options from someone trading millions on Derive, as he shares his very public trade setups for BTC and ETH, including the what went into his latest $3.5M Bitcoin call spread and his viral ETH call spread for March 2027 being copy-traded on Derive.</p><p>One of our best guests, and longest interviews ever. Meet an investor who&#39;s self-taught, and provides insights on his real trades, real positions, and real edge.</p><p>------<br>💎 THIS EPISODE'S SPONSORS</p><p>🔒 <a href="https://kpk.io/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"> KPK</a> | Best risk-adjusted yield through automated vaults<br /></p><p>🏦 <a href="https://app.axis.to/origin/EDGE" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"> AXIS</a> | The Origin Vault launched on Ethereum<br /></p><p>🌐 <a href="https://link.re.xyz/the-edge-1" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"> RE</a> | Earn real yield backed by regulated reinsurance programs<br /></p><p>🟠 <a href="https://apyx.fi/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"> APYX</a> | The first dividend-backed stablecoin (DBS)<br /></p><p>🐡<a href="https://institutional.puffer.fi/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer"> PUFFER INSTITUTIONAL</a> | ETH staking solutions for scale<br /></p><p>------<br>⏱️ TIMESTAMPS</p><p>0:00 - Intro<br>2:25 - From mining BTC at 13, to trading, to fund manager<br>5:25 - The light bulb moment with DeFi and Ethereum<br>7:38 - The poker game that led to his fund<br>10:26 - How much is TradFi “in the arena” with DeFi?<br>14:17 - How Kool got into onchain perps: GMX, Gains, Hyperliquid<br>20:13 - Running a liquid fund, yield generation, and a little VC<br>23:28 - Why Kool doesn’t trade memecoins<br>28:01 - The DRV bull thesis<br>41:14 - Breaking down Kool’s $3.5M BTC call spread in Sept<br>45:58 - The benefit of Derive’s RFQ-powered trading<br>50:14 - AI agents are a massive tailwind for onchain options adoption<br>52:50 - Options trading tools: Derivatives Monkey, DeFiLlama, Claude<br>56:29 - Pros and cons of options vs perps<br>1:02:37 - Managing risk and closing options trades <br>1:05:35 - Forecasting a bullish October, and uncertain end of year<b