Crypto Portfolio Update (August 2022) + New Passive Strategy Using Syfe

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August. What a chaotic month.

We’re in this strange situation where everyone, from traders to taxi drivers to insurance agents and journalists, are suddenly ‘macro experts’ right now.

It’s important not to get lost in all of the macro noise, and to understand our own investment goals.

The Jackson Hole speech gave hints about the Fed’s relentless willpower to bring down inflation, and there is pretty much nothing we can do about it. Until something breaks at least.

Now, I don’t want to turn this into another market outlook update post which you can have 10 different takes on how to interpret macro data, but I’ll focus more on how to position yourself ahead – Be it Crypto, Equities or more.

The current crypto market is also mentally draining, so I have really taken a step back to re-evaluate my investing strategy (which I will share more below), while optimising my mindset for the long-term.

Investing is a marathon, and he who does not get shaken out will reap the rewards in glory.

With that said, let’s dive right into the changes I made for my personal portfolio this month.

August 2022 Portfolio

As of 28 Aug 22

Intro to Manifold – MEV profits for all

I know what you might be thinking. What the heck is Manifold Finance? So I am going to give a very brief TLDR here:

Manifold Finance is a middleware protocol that provides access to high-value transaction pools on EVM-compatible chains, specifically Ethereum for now. The protocol also aggregates multiple endpoints such as Flashbots and Eden Network through its SecureRPC product, while maintaining direct access to disparate mining pools or validator nodes.

What this means is, you can connect directly to their RPC endpoint for free – and instantly grant you MEV-protection, privacy and secured transaction, and never again worried about being front-run, sandwiched, or arbitraged because your transactions are visible to MEV bots, which is a huge issue on Ethereum today, and will become an even bigger issue once Ethereum becomes a Proof-of-Stake blockchain.

Why it Matters: After the Merge, Ethereum will use a modular approach called Proposer-Builder Separation, which basically separates block building and block validation into two distinct activities, while introducing a new stakeholder known as the block builder.

Manifold’s core product, called OpenMEV, will potentially allow Manifold Finance to become one of the largest block builders, once the Merge goes through. It is already connected to DApps such as SushiSwap, and on its way to onboard Balancer, Olympus DAO and many more, enabling private order flows, and granting all the benefits against malicious MEV.

FOLD is basically a high risk bet on the future of block building after The Merge occurs, and capturing the TAM of the MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) market which used to be dominated by miners of the PoW Ethereum era, will increase yield, market efficiency and bringing about a healthier Ethereum ecosystem, with FOLD stakers benefiting directly if the protocol really becomes Ethereum’s largest block builder.

Concentrated Bets

With Merge getting closer each day, I decided to consolidate my portfolio even further and make it as easy to manage as possible, and so the majority of my portfolio is now in ETH, with a high-risk bet on the success of the post-Merge world in FOLD.

I also sold IMX and GMX during the recent rally, because it is always good to take profits while you can, and directed those towards my ETH stack. (+FOLD)

And for the sake of security and privacy purposes, I have also split up my assets into multiple hard wallets (think Voldemort’s Horcrux) in case anything goes wrong on Merge day.

With liquidity slowly drying up, I am also more cautious with the speed of deploying capital, but I am a net buyer of ETH from here onwards.

Believe it or not, the ETH Rainbow Chart (which is basically a Log chart) that was meant to be a troll, somehow managed to indicate reliable bottoms for both BTC and ETH, and it is indicating a FIRE SALE right now. Now this does not indicate a Buy signal, nor does this means financial advice.

Bear markets present generational buying opportunities, so I personally think its wise to accumulate now if you are investing for the long term (at least 5 years horizon).

(New) Passive Stonks DCA Strategy – Syfe Custom ETFs

The 4 ETFs I selected for my passive stock market DCA strategy.

Disclaimer: Before I continue, take note I am NOT sponsored by Syfe in any way, and words here are merely my personal opinion of their product offerings and how it helps me build my wealth, and does not constitute as any form of financial advice. Please DYOR.

Starting September, I am also looking to allocate some of my portfolio towards traditional stock markets to hedge against my own conviction on the crypto markets, and I have once again, chosen Syfe to do that for me.

For those who don’t know what Syfe is, I wrote about them a loooooong time ago back when I was a stock market investor, before I dived down the crypto rabbit hole.

Simply put, they are a roboadvisor who passively invests for you with a flat fee, and a recent neobroker offering in the form of Syfe Trade – which allows lazy stock investors like me who simply wants a one-stop shop to DCA some spare funds in a passive, automated manner.

You can read up on Syfe to get a brief idea here, and my review on their 100% managed Equity product offering.

I also compared Syfe against another popular roboadvisor Stashaway here.

Do take note though, new features are not mentioned here as these were written ~2 years ago, but 70% of the content here still applies today.

Now on to the good part.

Key Value Proposition: Zero Effort Investing

As anyone who reads my blog posts or telegram channel know, I am 1000000% immersed and focused on the Web3/Crypto sector. I no longer (and have the willingness to) have the time to look closely into individual stocks to buy, what valuation they are at and which sector within Traditional Finance represent a good buying opportunity. It is just not my forte anymore.

Awhile back, I was thinking long and hard about how I can invest effortlessly into the stock market, and my immediate thought was through ETFs, but going a step further and I thought to myself, what if I want more than 1 ETF (the S&P 500 Index obviously), and increase my diversification while having the optionality to concentrate bet on the Tech sector?

And trust me, I spent a heck ton of time researching for such a product offering until I stumbled back at Syfe with their Syfe Custom Select Offering.

Problem: Difficult to Access

To keep this short, I wanted exposure to the S&P 500, so I naturally gravitated towards the CSPX and VWRA ETFs (Irish-Domiciled, More Tax Friendly for Non-US investors), with the caveat that it is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

To create one more broker just to access 2 ETFs? I am not going to do that.

And so it was simply troublesome to set up another brokerage account, doing KYC and having to set up new transfers, all these are simply too much work for me with the limited time I have each day.

I also wanted tech exposure through QQQ (Nasdaq-100) and a small high-beta exposure through ARKK (ARK Innovation).

The only way I can have the best of both worlds is to have an all-in-one app that gives me access to these four specific ETFs, as well as the ability to throw in extra funds while automating the entire process and giving me the exact weightage I want.

It seemed like a pipe dream until I discovered the Syfe Custom Select option.

Fully Automated, Monthly DCA

Actual User Interface – My Custom Portfolio breakdown + Backtest returns

As a start, I will be depositing $1000 to begin, and subsequently depositing $1000/month on an automated, hands-off basis. The moment these funds gets deposited, Syfe automatically allocates based on my custom weightage, which is honestly a god-sent feature in my opinion.

Btw, I am planning to pay near-zero attention to this portfolio, and will only make slight weightage/ETF adjustments semi-annually or even longer.

Full Diversification + Tech Sector Concentration

To me, these 4 ETFs cover the entire base of the stock market, while having a heavy emphasis on the Technology sector (~50% weightage) from the 100 stocks in QQQ and 30+ stocks in ARKK. Diversification comes directly from VWRA which covers 3000+ stocks from the entire stock market, and CSPX which is basically the S&P 500 index, or the top 500 companies in USA.

Dividends will also be automatically reinvested back to the portfolio for compounding, with no rebalancing involved. Winners will outperform and dominate the portfolio, while laggards will simply take a smaller part of the portfolio, aka let nature take its course

All these perks and passive, automated strategies also comes at a straightforward and flat cost, which you can find below:

Fees are charged competitively, and while doing it DIY saves you from the above platform fees, I would rather pay the platform fees for an ease of mind and passive automation it offers.

To put things into perspective, with an example allocation of $100K invested, you are simply paying $400 in fees to Syfe for the entire year, which translates to a mere $33.33 per month. I would let them have that.

Of course, investing differs for everyone, and if you have the time and effort to manually buy the ETFs yourself in a customised weighting, while reinvesting the dividends issued from the ETFs, and also potentially buying and selling ETFs using multiple brokers at once and taking note of commission fees, then sure go ahead. Everybody’s situation is different, so to each his/her own!

Product in summary:

1. Relatively low fees of 0.4% to 0.65%
2. Investment team is full of insights and professional experience
3. Offers different portfolios to suit different needs
4. Potential to outperform the market using a passive or customised approach
5. Clear fee structure and easy to use interface

Syfe Trade

I am potentially looking to buy individual stocks from time to time via Syfe Trade, which currently only offer access to US Stock Market, with 5 Free Trades per month for the first 3 months and 2 Free Trades per month subsequently.

Commission fees if you exceed the 5 free trades quota during the first 3 months will be 0.99 USD each regardless of trade size, and 1.49 USD if you exceed the 2 free trades quota subsequently.

To me, as I am simply buying on a monthly basis, it should not matter to me much as I will only be making 1-2 purchases tops each month.

Active trading can be done elsewhere. This platform is simply a one-stop shop for the passive, time-squeezed investor – which happens to suit my profile as my attention is on crypto.

Actual App Interface – Set up recurring buys! I’m sold.

As you can see here, if I want to go beyond ETFs from the Custom Select product I mentioned above, I can always set up recurring DCA buys on individual stocks such as Tesla here. Simplicity beats everything when it comes to passive investing – so reducing friction on the buying/selling process is what really matters here.

In short, I have an added arsenal that allows me to stay invested at all times in the markets. And just in case, if one day the crypto experiment doesn’t work out, if the 0.000001% chance of crypto ceasing to exist happens, then at least I have a passive bag that I can still rely on, and to be fair, I am putting little to no effort on it and yet able to reap returns from it. To me, that is a really good tradeoff.

Conclusion

Crypto, equities, and any risk-on assets are in currently shambles and at mercy of the Fed. Viewed from another lens, it presents one of the best buying opportunities in a long, long time.

Stocks in general have been overvalued since the beginning of the last decade, and mean reversion, or whatever you wanna call it, is once again giving investors a reset button (or another chance) to get ready for the next bull cycle.

With the ending of a bearish trend, comes the spark for a new bullish trend. The next 10 years will be something to look forward to, and I for one, will not be sitting on the sidelines waiting for magic to happen.

Taking action to stay invested is the most prudent way to reap the long term benefits of compound interest, and winning the ultimate Marshmellow testof our lives.

Dollar-Cost Averaging is a proven strategy, provided you have a long time horizon. It is honestly the best way to invest for 99% of people on the planet in my opinion as well.

My crypto portfolio will be an actively managed portion of my portfolio, while bolstering it with a passive, zero effort automation strategy, is what I believe will help me achieve my long-term goals. That’s it.

Syfe Promo Code

In case you are interested to sign up for Syfe as well, you can input a promo/referral code that can give you some sign-up perks

Promo Code: SRPTH8LK3

3-Month Fee Waiver for the first deposit of $1000 (or more)!

4-Month Fee Waiver for the first deposit of $10,000 (or more)!

5-Month Fee Waiver for the first deposit to $20,000 (or more)!

6-Month Fee Waiver for the first deposit to $50,001 (or more)!

Note: Fee Waiver benefit is applicable on the first deposit made only. The waiver will be automatically activate to your portfolio once above conditions are fulfilled. *Fees are waived for portfolio size up to $50K. Accounts must be funded within 30 days from promo code sign-up to receive benefits.

Syfe Trade Welcome Bonus

Promo Code: SRPTH8LK3

$70 bonus for the first deposit of $2000 (or more)!

_Note: Accounts must be funded within 30 days from promo code sign-up and making at least one trade to receive _bonus.

For those who are already into Crypto

Want to learn how you can earn high yielding interest rates on your idle crypto assets in a secure, safe and easy manner?

What is Bitcoin? Answers here

Or do your due diligence on Bitcoin in my post here where I debunk some of the myths regarding Bitcoin.

What is Ethereum? Simple Guide Here

I did a bite-sized article on Ethereum for you to get a crash-course on what the buzz word is all about here.

What is Decentralised Finance (DeFi)?

Or do you want to learn more about DeFi in a simple to understand manner? Click here to learn more

How to Value Crypto Assets?

Learn more about how you can put a “fair value” on crypto such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and more here

Crypto Referral Links (Click and Sign Up)

FTX Exchange: Create a FTX account here and trade the lowest fee and best UI/UX crypto exchange!

GMX Referral: Enjoy a 5% discount off trading fees when you use my referral code and trade on GMX.

Disclaimer:

The content here is for informational purposes only and should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice. It does NOT constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase any investment or a recommendation to buy or sell a security. In fact, the content is not directed to any investor or potential investor and may not be used to evaluate or make any investment.