That's a tough pill to swallow, ngl.

So there I was—running a delta neutral grind with modest capital right after the $LIT token generation event. Seemed like the smart play at the time. Then macro headlines hit like a freight train, followed by perpetual spreads exploding across the board. Liquidation came in seconds.

The worst part? I wasn't even betting on direction. Wasn't wrong about the market's actual move—just wrong about volatility compression holding. That's the kind of L that stings different.

Let me break down what happened here:

First off, delta neutral strategies look bulletproof on paper. Hedge long spot against short perps, collect the spread, sleep easy. Reality's messier. When macro news hits and liquidity evaporates, those "hedges" become one-way doors. Your shorts get crushed while longs struggle to move. Basis blows out. Game over.

Second thing—capital efficiency matters more than it looks. Running tight leverage on small capital leaves zero breathing room. A 5% volatility spike shouldn't liquidate you if you sized right, but it does when spreads widen faster than your margin can absorb.

Third, perp markets move different than spot. During volatility spikes, funding rates spike harder, liquidation cascades trigger, and suddenly your "neutral" position is anything but.

The lesson isn't "don't trade deltas." It's: know your liquidation distance, respect macro calendars, and never assume spreads stay tight when volatility wakes up.