DurdenBTC · Systematic Crypto + Macro · Survival Is Alpha

Three doors. Pick the one that sounds like you.

Most retail dies bringing one tool to every regime. We built three — one for the boring grind that compounds, one for sizing like a fund, and one for the part of you that still wants to swing for the fences. With limits.

Join on Substack — free, immediate updates to your inbox. Paid subscribers get all three systems and live signals for $7/mo.

Skin In The Game

How my own book is actually sized.

No theory. This is the core-satellite model I run my own capital on — and the same discipline the systems are built around. The engines govern the 97%. The Scanner gets a contained 3%. No exceptions to the bands.

97%Core · MRE + Arsenal
3%Sandbox · Altcoin Scanner
3–10% of sandbox per play 8–10 concurrent plays max often 20–80% in cash
Signals published every market day Every call timestamped — wins and losses 9 months live, paid tier 6 4,950 on X
The Model

How the Three Pillars Fit

One philosophy, three jobs. The Core is the boring engine that compounds and survives. The Sandbox is the contained outlet for speculation — small, sized, and wrapped in the same risk discipline. The Foundation is the worldview underneath both: cut the left tail, accept giving up the tip-top, win on the sequence of returns. Pick your door above — or see how they stack.

Core · 97% — the boring engine that compounds

S&P 500
Macro Regime Engine (MRE) v06
MRE v06 — 26-voter macro regime engine on SPY with regime shading and risk-on/off markers
26 macro voters across growth, inflation, duration, and FX.. condensed into four regimes (Goldilocks, Reflation, Inflation, Deflation) and one binary signal: risk-on or risk-off SPY. 23 years of backtests, seven independent forward tests, zero failures.
+11.42% CAGR 1.03 Sharpe −13.09% Max DD 7/7 forward tests
Full breakdown →
Bitcoin
Arsenal Bitcoin Trend System
Arsenal BTC — VAMS trend + three-layer volatility regime on Bitcoin with three-state positioning
Multi-layer architecture: a trend filter (SMA crossover) plus a three-layer volatility regime filters (calm-bull, calm-bear, crisis). Three-state positioning.. 100% long on +2 (BULLISH), 50% on 0 (NEUTRAL), 0% on −2 (BEARISH). Capture most of Bitcoin’s upside while cutting drawdown by more than half.
+85.24% CAGR 2.25 Sharpe −34.46% Max DD 10.6 yrs
Full breakdown →

Arsenal is a family. BTC, ETH, Gold, SPY, QQQ and nine US sector ETF engines are live in the members dashboard. Signals updated daily.

Sandbox · 3% — structured speculation, contained

Altcoins · BETA
Daily Altcoin Scanner
The other 3% of the book. The top 500 altcoins run nightly through the 8th Rule across four archetypes — transitions surfaced before the close. This is not a moonshot tip service: the Scanner finds the bets, and the same risk discipline enforces the size. The part of you that wants to swing for the fences gets a sandbox — not the whole portfolio.
500 alts scanned nightly 3–10% of sandbox per play 8–10 concurrent max 0% leverage
See how the Sandbox works →

Foundation · Underneath all three: the 8th Rule and the thesis — cut the left tail, win on the sequence of returns.

Explore Free

Charts, Research & Macro Data

Live Bitcoin models, macro economic charts, and weekly research.. all free, no login required. Start with the Bitcoin Harmonic Oscillator for a one-glance read on where we are in the cycle, check where price sits versus its 200-day moving average, or see how Bitcoin tracks the ISM manufacturing cycle.

What You Get

Live Data. Real Edge.

Paid subscribers get a live members dashboard with the MRE v06 engine, the Arsenal family of trend signals, and US sector reads.. refreshed daily before markets open. Screenshot below the cards.

Macro Regime Engine v06

Live regime classification (Goldilocks / Reflation / Inflation / Deflation), 26-voter breakdown, and current SPY position size. The full backtest history and seven forward tests are one click away.

Live

Arsenal Engines

Standalone trend signals for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Gold, SPY and QQQ.. each with a three-state position read (100% / 50% / 0%), diagnostic chart, and full backtest scorecard.

Live

US Factor Bets — Sector Heatmap

A 3×3 grid covering all nine US sector ETFs (XLB, XLE, XLF, XLI, XLK, XLP, XLU, XLV, XLY). Each tile shows the engine’s current read; click a tile for the diagnostic chart.

Live

Macro Weather

SAAR momentum across Growth, Inflation, and Monetary Policy. Gives you a deeper understanding of what headwins & tailwinds are driving the current macro environment.

Live

Global Liquidity

Global M2 money supply vs Bitcoin with rate-of-change analysis across 21 economies in real time.

Live

Financial Stress

SOFR-EFFR, VIX, bond stress (MOVE proxy), and DXY strength. The four stress gauges that matter for sizing risk under the MRE.

Live
Sneak Peek

Members Only Access Preview

A sneak peak into the members only area where you have access to everything listed above.

DurdenBTC members-only dashboard preview — MRE v06, Arsenal signals, sector heatmap, liquidity, stress
All the data, charts, signals, backtests & more.. at your fingertips.
The Receipts

Signature Moments

The engine doesn't predict crashes. It measures the macro environment turning hostile — credit spreads widening, volatility spiking, safety assets bidding — and steps aside before the waterfall. Specific dates, not summaries.

FEB 20, 2020 · COVID

MRE went risk-off Feb 20. SPX fell −34% over the next month. Re-entered May 2020, into the recovery.

NOV 2021 · THE 2022 BEAR

Exited November 2021. SPX fell ~25% through the rate shock. Back in January 2023, early.

DEC 2007 · GFC

Exited December 2007. SPX fell −56%. Flat through the entire waterfall, re-entered April 2009.

SEP 2000 · DOT-COM

Exited September 2000. SPX fell ~49% over two years. Re-entered near the bottom, December 2002.

See the full crash-by-crash breakdown in the thesis →

How It Works

Three Steps

01

Subscribe Free

Join on Substack. Get signal updates, strategy deep-dives, and macro regime commentary delivered to your inbox.

02

Upgrade for $7/mo

Unlock all three systems on one dashboard: the MRE regime engine, the Arsenal suite (BTC, ETH, Gold, SPY, QQQ), the US sector heatmap, the Daily Altcoin Scanner, plus macro weather, liquidity, and stress gauges.

03

Execute

Use the regime signals and live data to size your risk. Full position when conditions are green, scale down when they're not.

Pricing

Free vs Paid

Everything runs through Substack. Free gets you in the door. Paid unlocks the full dashboard for the price of a coffee.

Free

$0/month
  • Strategy breakdowns & deep dives
  • Macro regime commentary
  • Members dashboard access
  • Live positioning & macro weather
  • Financial stress & liquidity charts
  • Arsenal engines & US sector heatmap
Subscribe Free
Pillar Guides

Go Deeper

If you want to understand how the systems actually work — and the macro frameworks they sit inside — these long-form guides cover the full thesis. Each one stands alone; together they're the curriculum.

Start with a free subscription

Upgrade to paid anytime for $7/month to unlock the full dashboard.

Read the full thesis: Survival Is Alpha →