I run a small operation making markets in crypto along with other market neutral strats. Over the last four months, we've been up low 7 figures (without having long/directional exposure). There is significant additional scalability to what I'm doing, and I'm looking for a partnership with a larger hft shop or possibly a HF that is in the position to really handle that. As it is, I'm struggling to keep up with the business as it currently exists, and don't have the infrastructure in place to rapidly scale up. About a year ago, I reached out to a few relevant shops that were in my sphere, and despite quite a lot of time going back and forth, they ultimately were not interested in making a deal then (however, we weren't putting up triple digit returns then). I decided to post this and see if there were some interested parties, before trying again to find an interested party through more traditional channels. I'm US based. If you are interested, or know a relevant firm that would be interested, please get in touch.
If you grow yourself organically and secure your employees with NDA's you'll be much better off IMHO. If you partner with a bigger firm - your employees and your software and any IP you have will now be theirs no matter how you structure the relationship. I've seen this many times with proprietary trading firms and hedge funds. And if the firm you partner with goes down, even through no fault of your own - you and your funds go down with it. Your trading account is no longer protected segregated funds in that event.
There is no way it's scalable (per unit PNL) and that's why there is no interest. You say it is, but more importantly, nobody is going to talk to you unless you're trading futures. Nobody wants to hear about trading against dealers. It's a nightmare.
what are you hoping to get from the partnership? credit lines, infrastructure, support? Do you have a crypto business, otc rfq, ...? Maybe you really just need an investor
credit lines, infrastructure, support? somewhat, yes, and yes. No, not running an otc rfq. In theory an investor might have worked. Practically speaking, I'm looking just as much (or more) for these things above that you've mentioned than capital, so an investor that's not in the trading space isn't really a fit.
Well, I guess that settles it then. Hedge Funds and Proprietary Firms are only interested in scaling the living shit out of a trade. You trade it yourself until it goes away. Because like all arbitrage it will and certainly sooner than you'd like. Run the car yourself until the wheels fall off. Then look for another car.
US based, so no derivatives then? If you're market neutral, your sharpe is high enough and your returns are not correlated with spot then your best bet would be to setup a small hedgefund. Finding investors for this kind of stuff is actually insanely easy right now IF you setup correctly (custody, KYC/AML, etc.) If you like, PM me. I'm in EU but I might be able to help you out.
Are you making the market on legitimate exchanges like CME/ICE or doing OTC stuff at the bucket shops?