Polymarket Btc Weekend Volatility Trader
by @diagnostikon
Trades BTC weekend price threshold markets on Polymarket by exploiting the systematic gap between first-passage probability ("will BTC touch 150k at ANY POIN...
clawhub install polymarket-btc-weekend-volatility-traderπ About This Skill
name: polymarket-btc-weekend-volatility-trader description: Trades BTC weekend price threshold markets on Polymarket by exploiting the systematic gap between first-passage probability ("will BTC touch 150k at ANY POINT this weekend?") and terminal probability ("will BTC close above 150k?") β a structural mispricing that replenishes every weekend. Conviction scaled by entry timing window and BTC halving cycle volatility regime. metadata: author: Diagnostikon version: "1.0" displayName: BTC Weekend Volatility Trader difficulty: advanced
BTC Weekend Volatility Trader
> This is a template.
> The default signal is keyword-based BTC threshold market discovery combined with conviction-based sizing and btc_weekend_bias() β three structural edges, no external API required.
> The skill handles all the plumbing (market discovery, trade execution, safeguards). Your agent provides the alpha.
Strategy Overview
Every weekend, Polymarket lists markets asking: *"Will Bitcoin trade above 150,000 USDT at any time between Saturday 00:00 UTC and Sunday 23:59 UTC?"*
Retail prices this as a terminal probability question β *will BTC be above 150k at market close?* The question is asking for something fundamentally different: a first-passage probability β *will BTC touch 150k at any single moment across a full 48-hour window?*
For a threshold level close to the current price, the first-passage probability is approximately twice the terminal probability. For far-OTM levels, the gap narrows but remains positive. Retail has no idea this distinction exists. The mispricing replenishes every single weekend.
Three structural edges compound without any API:
1. First-passage vs terminal probability correction β "Any time above X" is not "close above X." Given BTC's 70%+ annualized vol and fat-tail distribution (kurtosis β 5β8 vs Gaussian 3), touch probability is systematically higher than what Polymarket prices.
2. Entry timing window β The edge is sharpest on ThursdayβFriday morning when vol model estimates are freshest and weekend positional flows haven't yet crowded the market. By Sunday, the path is largely revealed and risk premium dominates.
3. BTC halving cycle β Weekend gap volatility is highest in the bull expansion phase (days 181β540 post-halving) when realized vol runs 70β90% annualized. Bear phase vol compression (30β45%) makes far-threshold markets chronically overpriced.
The Core Insight: First-Passage β Terminal Probability
This is the sharpest single edge in the entire skill. Here is the math:
For a random walk with annualized volatility Ο over a time window T (in years):
Ο_window = Ο Γ βTFor BTC (Ο β 70%) over a 48-hour weekend window:
T = 2/365 β 0.00548 years
Ο_weekend β 70% Γ β0.00548 β 4.1%
A threshold 8% above current price:
d = 8% / 4.1% β 1.95 standard deviations
Terminal P(BTC > threshold at end) β Ξ¦(-1.95) β 2.6%
Touch P (BTC touches at any time) β 2 Γ Ξ¦(-1.95) β 5.2%
The market prices 2.6%. The correct answer is 5.2%. Retail consistently prices the terminal probability when the question resolves on the touch.
Add BTC's empirical fat tails (extreme moves happen 3β5Γ more often than a Gaussian model predicts) and the true touch probability is even higher β potentially 7β10% for this level.
The edge is largest for levels 5β15% above current price β close enough to be reachable but far enough that retail dismisses them. Deep OTM levels (>20% away) narrow the gap; levels already nearly breached have the least edge as the path becomes predictable.
Signal Logic
Default Signal: Conviction-Based Sizing with BTC Weekend Bias
1. Discover active BTC price threshold markets across all levels (100kβ200k+)
2. Gate: must be a genuine BTC price threshold market with a weekend/time window
3. Compute base conviction from distance to threshold (0% at boundary β 100% at p=0/p=1)
4. Apply btc_weekend_bias() β semantic correction Γ entry timing Γ halving cycle
5. Size = max(MIN_TRADE, conviction Γ bias Γ MAX_POSITION) β capped at MAX_POSITION
BTC Weekend Bias (built-in, no API required)
Factor 1 β Semantic Resolution Type (first-passage correction)
| Question semantics | Multiplier | What's actually being priced | |---|---|---| | "any time", "at any point", "at least once" | 1.25x | First-passage: β2Γ terminal P; retail prices as terminal | | "strictly above", "above", "trade above" | 1.20x | Likely first-passage; BTC fat tails on top | | Binance BTCUSDT named as primary source | +0.05x | Single clean feed reduces oracle risk; less interpretation uncertainty | | "close above", "closing price", "at close" | 1.00x | Terminal probability; standard pricing; less structural edge |
Factor 2 β Entry Timing Window
| Day / time (UTC) | Multiplier | Why | |---|---|---| | Thursday (any time) | 1.20x | Optimal: 2β3 days to weekend, vol fresh, no positional crowding | | Friday before 16:00 UTC | 1.15x | Good: pre-market, US equity session active | | Friday after 16:00 UTC | 1.10x | Crypto weekend has opened; Asian session beginning | | Saturday before noon UTC | 0.95x | Path partially revealed; some touch edge remains | | Saturday after noon UTC | 0.85x | Well into window; realized price action dominates | | Sunday | 0.75x | Near resolution; risk premium dominates over structural edge | | MondayβWednesday | 1.00x | Next weekend too far; vol estimate imprecise |
Factor 3 β BTC Halving Cycle (volatility regime)
| Phase | Days since halving | Multiplier | Typical realized vol | |---|---|---|---| | Bull expansion | 181β540 | 1.15x | 70β90% annualized β weekend moves most dramatic | | Post-halving momentum | 0β180 | 1.10x | Vol picking up through the cycle | | Distribution / topping | 541β900 | 1.00x | Vol declining from peak | | Bear / accumulation | 901+ | 0.85x | 30β45% annualized β far-threshold markets overpriced |
Combined Examples
Today (March 18, 2026): Thursday + bull-expansion (day 333 since halving)
| Market | Semantic | Timing | Cycle | Final bias | |---|---|---|---|---| | "BTC above 150k at any point this weekend?" β Thursday, Binance source | 1.25+0.05 = 1.30x | 1.20x | 1.15x | 1.40x cap | | "Will BTCUSDT trade above 140k this weekend?" β Thursday | 1.20x | 1.20x | 1.15x | 1.40x cap | | "Will BTC close above 160k by Sunday?" β Thursday | 1.00x | 1.20x | 1.15x | 1.38x | | Same market entered Saturday afternoon | 1.20x | 0.85x | 1.15x | 1.17x | | Same market entered Sunday | 1.20x | 0.75x | 1.15x | 1.03x | | Bear market (day 950) + Sunday + "close above" | 1.00x | 0.75x | 0.85x | 0.64x β MIN_TRADE |
How Sizing Works at Different Probability Levels
With defaults (YES_THRESHOLD=0.40, MIN_TRADE=$5, MAX_POSITION=$25, bull Thursday bias β1.40x):
| Market price p | Conviction | Biased conviction | Size | |---|---|---|---| | 40% (at threshold) | 0% | 0% | $5 (floor) | | 30% | 25% | 35% | $9 | | 20% | 50% | 70% | $18 | | 10% | 75% | 100% capped | $25 | | 5% | 87.5% | 100% capped | $25 |
Deep-OTM threshold markets (5β10% probability) get maximum size on Thursday β this is where the first-passage correction is most exploitable and where retail is most wrong.
Keywords Monitored
bitcoin weekend, BTC weekend, BTCUSDT weekend, bitcoin this weekend,
BTC this weekend, bitcoin above, btc above, BTCUSDT above,
bitcoin reach, btc reach, bitcoin hit, btc hit, trade above,
at any point, any time this weekend, strictly above,
bitcoin 100k, bitcoin 110k, bitcoin 120k, bitcoin 130k,
bitcoin 140k, bitcoin 150k, bitcoin 160k, bitcoin 170k,
bitcoin 180k, bitcoin 200k, btc 100k, btc 150k, btc 200k,
100000 usdt, 110000 usdt, 120000 usdt, 130000 usdt, 140000 usdt,
150000 usdt, 160000 usdt, 170000 usdt, 200000 usdt,
Binance BTCUSDT, btcusdt above, last traded price
Remix Signal Ideas
compute_signal β compute distance-to-threshold in % and apply the barrier option first-passage formula directly; gives exact touch probability vs Polymarket's naive p; the precision arbitrage is cleanest when you have both numbersSafety & Execution Mode
The skill defaults to paper trading (venue="sim"). Real trades only with --live flag.
| Scenario | Mode | Financial risk |
|---|---|---|
| python trader.py | Paper (sim) | None |
| Cron / automaton | Paper (sim) | None |
| python trader.py --live | Live (polymarket) | Real USDC |
autostart: false and cron: null β nothing runs automatically until you configure it in Simmer UI.
Required Credentials
| Variable | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SIMMER_API_KEY | Yes | Trading authority. Treat as high-value credential. |
Tunables (Risk Parameters)
All declared as tunables in clawhub.json and adjustable from the Simmer UI.
| Variable | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| SIMMER_MAX_POSITION | 25 | Max USDC per trade (reached at 100% conviction) |
| SIMMER_MIN_VOLUME | 5000 | Min market volume filter (USD) |
| SIMMER_MAX_SPREAD | 0.08 | Max bid-ask spread (8%) |
| SIMMER_MIN_DAYS | 1 | Min days until resolution β weekend markets are short-horizon by design |
| SIMMER_MAX_POSITIONS | 8 | Max concurrent open positions β can hold multiple threshold levels simultaneously |
| SIMMER_YES_THRESHOLD | 0.40 | Buy YES if market price β€ this value β wider than default to capture OTM thresholds |
| SIMMER_NO_THRESHOLD | 0.65 | Sell NO if market price β₯ this value |
| SIMMER_MIN_TRADE | 5 | Floor for any trade (min USDC regardless of conviction) |
Dependency
simmer-sdk by Simmer Markets (SpartanLabsXyz)