Chris’ note: Bitcoin has nearly doubled in price in 2023. And as our crypto investing expert, Teeka Tiwari, showed yesterday, a new bull market is underway.
But not everyone is comfortable buying bitcoin directly. That’s why today, I’m passing on an insight from legendary trader Larry Benedict. He’s racked up one of world’s best trading track records. And right now, the strategy he’s most excited about is what he calls bitcoin “skimming.”
It allows you to profit from moves in bitcoin through your online broker without owning crypto directly. And as he details below, it can deliver gains many times higher than regular crypto investors have access to.
Bitcoin has entered a new bull market.
With banks going bankrupt… and the dollar’s value plummeting due to mismanagement in D.C… bitcoin has soared 85% this year.
That’s gotten a lot of attention… even from folks who’ve never invested in crypto before.
But don’t forget… bitcoin fell a lot last year.
It plunged 77% from its all-time high in November 2021 until it finally bottomed out 12 months later.
That’s that kind of volatility that keeps a lot of people on the sidelines.
To get to the soaring highs, you first must endure the sinking lows. Most folks aren’t cut out for it. They end up doing the wrong thing and panic selling.
But for traders like me, that kind of volatility is a gift.
By placing short-term trades on moves in bitcoin – up or down – I’ve been able to make 6x… 9x… even 22x higher returns than bitcoin buy-and-hold investors would have made.
I’ll show you how it works in today’s insight. But first, for newer readers, a quick introduction.
How I Became a Market Wizard
I’ve been trading markets for nearly four decades.
In 1984, I got my start as a trader’s clerk in the pit at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).
Larry (right) on the exchange floor in the mid-1980s
Then, in 1989, I got a job with a specialist trading firm called Spear, Leeds & Kellogg. That’s where I learned about the importance of sticking to a trading discipline.
After Goldman Sachs bought the company in 2000, I set up my own trading firm, Banyan Capital Management.
Barron’s magazine ranked it in the top 1% worldwide.
And I was featured in the 2012 book on the world’s greatest hedge fund managers, Hedge Fund Market Wizards
That’s because I went from 1990 to 2010 as a trader without a single losing year. That includes 2008, when the S&P 500 got cut in half… and it seemed as though the entire financial system was going to collapse.
And more recently, at my Opportunistic Trader advisory business, I’ve gotten attention for my track record once again.
Last year, at my One Ticker Trader advisory, I recommended 11 trades… And all of them were winners. While buy-and-hold investors got killed, my traders had the chance to make a 240% return on their cash at risk.
And so far this year at my S&P Trader advisory, my recommended trades have had an 80% win rate with a 127% return.
But the idea I’m most excited about right now is skim trading.
It allows me to profit from moves in bitcoin and other cryptos without owning them directly.
72% Profit on This Bitcoin Skim
I know some smart analysts who invest in bitcoin and other crypto assets.
Some of these guys really believe in bitcoin. They say it will change the world. And they may be right.
But for me, making money isn’t about believing or not believing.
I don’t mean to sound crass. But for me, it’s about dollars hitting my account on a regular basis.
That’s why bitcoin skimming makes so much sense. I can profit whether bitcoin is rising or falling. And I don’t have to hang around for long in each trade.
Take the bitcoin skim trade I did that’s represented the chart below. This was a bearish skim trade… meaning it paid as bitcoin’s price fell.
As you can see, I closed this trade for a 72% profit in just a couple of weeks.
I’m not saying I’m bearish on bitcoin. I can profit when bitcoin surges to new highs and when it’s plunging… and the wider the swings, the bigger the profits.
And I can make multiple trades like this… in one day.
Three Skims in One Day
Here’s an example of three bitcoin skim trades I placed during testing…
You can see the first skim trade hit at 11:49 a.m. ET.
Starting with $5,000, you could have collected $12,350.
Then, at 2:25 p.m., you could have skimmed another $16,850. Then, just half an hour later, you could have skimmed another $33,850 into your account.
That’s a total gain for the three trades of $63,050 in a single day.
And it was all off a 4% rise in bitcoin. That means a buy-and-hold investor would have made $200 (4% of $5,000) that same day.
The cherry on top is I can do it all without having to touch shaky crypto exchanges… download fiddly wallets… or risk losing passkeys.
How to Place Your Own Skim Trades
I don’t want to sound dismissive of crypto investors.
I know some folks are deep into crypto and enjoy getting to grips with this new technology.
But that’s not for me. I’m in my 60s. I don’t want to have to open a special crypto account… or learn how to use a crypto wallet… or any of that.
And with skim trading, I don’t have to. I will never have to open a crypto account or buy bitcoin directly.
I recently sat down for an interview all about it with news anchor Kim Moening.
She grilled me on my bitcoin skim trades. And I gave her a bunch more examples of how I’ve profited. I also shared some testimonials from my subscribers.
I even gave the name and ticker symbol of the vehicle I use to place my skim trades.
So, if you’re interested in learning more about how it all works… and how you can access my skim trade alerts… watch it here.
Regards,
Larry Benedict
Editor, Trading With Larry Benedict