Novice Navigator
Why Pair Trade, If I Can Just Giga Long?

Apr 13, 2024
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3 Minutes Read
3 Minutes Read
3 Minutes Read
Pairs trading has become a popular trading strategy especially on Crypto Twitter, where users long one asset (say ETH) and short another against it (SOL). This is expressed as ETH/SOL.

This idea of being long one asset, and short another can be applied to any two assets in the market e.g. LINK/PYTH, OP/ARB, WIF/BONK, where you believe the first one will outperform the other asset.
1) Pair Trading in A Rising Market
One common mid-curve take is that pair trading is more risky since you’re shorting something.

Anons, you cannot be more wrong, because even if SOL goes up (and you are short), you hope you make more on the long ETH leg as Ethereum eventually outperforms Solana on the leg up.

i.e. you make the ‘spread’ between the two. This is where leverage goes into play. Say ETH/SOL moves 5% in your favor (as per the image). With 10x, you’ve made 50%, all with much less risk than if you were outright long or short. Why is it less risky? Because it doesn’t matter if the market goes up, down or sideways. The real power in pair trading is that it can work in different market scenarios.
2) Pair Trading in A Falling Market
The US Government has just sold more Silk Road Bitcoins, the market is red, wyd? As we’ve seen, pair trading can work well in up-trending markets. But what if the trend is downwards?
Well, in this scenario you hope to make an offsetting amount of PnL (and more) from your SOL short leg. Let’s say ETH is -5%, and SOL is -8%. In this example you’ve made +3%

Again, let’s say with 10x leverage that would have gained a profit of 30%. So as you can see, you can make money pair trading regardless of if the broader market is green or red.
But how about in sideways/choppy markets?
3) Pair Trading in A Ranging Market
Lastly, using the same logic, pair trading can work in choppy aka crab markets. Let’s take the example where markets have not really moved much and ETH is +2%, whilst SOL is +1%.

In the example above, the spread is positive and with x10 leverage you would have gained +10% in otherwise benign and boring market conditions.
When you’re wrong
The time when you’re wrong will be when you chose an asset that doesn’t outperform the other for whatever reason. This is why we consider this type of trading to be narrative trading - you want to long the things that are attracting volume and attention, and short the unloved ones that can’t keep pace.
Like all trading, you have to be conscious of taking profits when moves seem over-extended. Thankfully on Pear Protocol you can chart these different pair trades automatically simply by choosing a long and a short and see how it evolves over time.

Why Pair Trade?
To summarize, pair trading is a strategy that works in all market conditions and allows you to generate returns in a risk-optimized manner.
Compared to outright longing and shorting stuff, here are some other reasons to pair trade:
Less risk of liquidation
Somewhat market neutral
Less volatility, yes you can sleep better with positions open
Can amplify returns via leverage for real this time
Narrative based trading

It’s a powerful tool in a trader’s arsenal, and now with Pear Protocol you can easily create your own pair trades with 1 click.
Try it now.
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© 2025 Pear Protocol. All rights reserved.
All systems operational
© 2025 Pear Protocol. All rights reserved.
All systems operational
© 2025 Pear Protocol. All rights reserved.