My Cash Secured Put for IBIT, Bitcoin ETF got exercised

In a previous post, I wrote about selling 3 cash secured puts on IBIT and using the premium to buy more well, that happened when IBIT was at $66 USD, crazy, how it dropped to around the $30 area I bought it pretty far out about 9 months (for the one expiring March 2026) and 12 months out (expiring in June 2026). 

Read: Leverage can double your gains but wipe you out too, what "dangerous" positions am I holding currently?

For the March 2026 cash secured put, I set the strike price at $49 and I had to buy 100 shares at $49 when it was trading at around $40 so I am still in the red since the current price at the moment is also around $40. I have 2 more upcoming expiring on 18 June 2026 with strike price of $40 and $45, not too sure if they will be exercised but I do have the funds and don't mind adding on. 

It has been volatile so I cannot guarantee if they will be exercised of course, I don't wish to buy them at a higher price than the market rate so hoping that Bitcoin stage a recovery and stays above the strike price or at least pretty close so that I don't lose too much. But in the long term, I believe Bitcoin is going up and no harm in adding more positions.  

In the meantime, I received a low 5 figure sum recently and started selling some cash secured puts with them since it can allow me to choose a strike price lower than the market price but with the volatility, it can mean that it goes lower than expected. In terms of the broader market, I think sticking with my DCA-ing of index funds have been good, with 50% of my portfolio in broad index funds (namely QQQ and CSPX), the crazy news hasn't brought it down as much as crypto or Tesla. 

Thoughts on cash secured puts

When I first sold this 3 puts, I didn't think that they would have a chance to be exercised but I think that definitely after doing CSP for some time, you learn. I sold them pretty far out and thought bitcoin would be well above $100,000 by now but well, we are far from that. 

I now usually sell CSP on monthly basis with 28 days to 30 days expiration dates. I tend to sell them on red days and definitely on shares that I don't mind getting if it ever hits the strike price. It is fun seeing the premiums coming in but I need to restrain myself from getting too greedy eg to sell without holding the necessary cash to cover. 

Overall, I am slowly learning and not overstretching myself so hoping to see where it brings me for this year and if I will still be continuing to sell puts after 2026. I use about 8% of my total portfolio to do this CSP system as I want to still be invested in the market. As the portfolio grows, it might also mean that this cash set aside might grow but nothing is fixed in stone.Happy to generate some income on the side in this sideway/volatile market but in a bull market, it will definitely be better to be invested so it depends. 

2026 direction for the portfolio - What am I adding, strategies for portfolio growth and where I want it to be at the end of 2026

2025 was quite a good year for the portfolio, it went up in value with my contributions and also the volatility of it provided such excitement for me. Hoping to reduce the risky factor in the portfolio by diversifying more into index funds but at the same time to make calculated bets into what I believe will grow in the coming years. 

2026 continues on the AI momentum as we see IREN, NIBS, uranium stocks as well as copper (commodity) gain interest, I do not know where to put my money in but am observing them as I feel I need to know more so that if any black swan event happens, I have the conviction to hold and not sell out. 

Tesla and Bitcoin (both quite substantial positions in my portfolio) performed not as well as expected towards the end of 2025 and I don't intend to add more Tesla but for bitcoin I will add more positions slowly. I will be receiving some money from a savings plan that I started when I was 21 so after 10 years, the money will be back in my pocket. I think I would have done better investing it or maybe I would have just lost it all so it is a good addition. When I started the savings plan at that time, I just started working and my mum wanted me to get into the habit of forced savings so it was a save 5 years and locked in for another 5 years. Turns out, time passes really fast!

Read: Savings plan - Yes or No

Since it will be a sum of about low 5 digit, I might start doing some cash secured puts on it before deciding where to deploy the money in. No concrete plans for now but holding on to it and doing cash secured puts is the current plan. 

Other than that, IREN seems to be a counter that I like to have a position in. I understand that they used to be a Bitcoin miner company but have since pivoted to doing data centers for AI using 100% renewable energy with Bitcoin mining still around. I haven't done much research into it. There seems to be a momentum for its analyst are setting a pretty high buy price for it as it recently had a contract awarded by Microsoft. I am not really knowledgeable in AI, chips and data centers but I can see the rise in excitement as well as more people talking about the relevant industries. Will initiate a small position before their earnings on 11 Feb 2026 and see how it goes. 

Besides that, CSPX monthly position is still going on and so that is my plan so far, looking at uranium shares but I don't want to be investing into so many counters that I am not familiar with so that is just something I am looking at now and not initiating any positions. 

2026 portfolio expectations

I think it will be a volatile year and the portfolio value is not something that I can control over time as it depends on many factors however, I want to make sure that I am adding in consistently and that is the plan. Of course, building a cash position is also part of the plan as I think the stock market might face some downturn although no one knows but having a cash position will allow me to take some opportunities if there is a downturn.