47000u is the time value I actually lost when I sold FT early on TermMax—I call it the "time tax".
In June, I bought FT with 47000u for a 6-month term. The page showed an annualized yield of 13%, and my expected total return at maturity was about 6.5%. In early August, I needed money and wanted to liquidate the FT early. But I found there was no early redemption option—so I could only place it for sale on the market. I checked the order book: the deepest buy orders sat at 96% of par value, but between 93% and 96% there was less than 8000u in volume. Since I had to fully sell my 47000u, I had to push the price all the way down to 94.9% to get it filled.
In the end, the average execution price was 94.9%. Holding for about 2 months left me with roughly 960u—whereas if I had held to maturity, I should have received about 3055u. The remaining ~2100u of profit evaporated, accounting for about seventy percent of the expected return. The guaranteed redemption at maturity is 1 FT = 1 USDC. Selling early is a free-fall priced by the market—the difference between the two is the "price of being early".
FT’s design is actually very honest: it turns "time" into a source of yield, and it turns "time" into a cost of liquidity. People who need cash urgently are at a natural disadvantage in markets like this. So I wrote the lesson into the rules: before buying FT, first confirm that this money won’t be needed for the next six months—discipline #1 for fixed-income products isn’t return, it’s matching the term. What 47000u taught me is the true price of the word "early".
@TermMax #TermMax
In June, I bought FT with 47000u for a 6-month term. The page showed an annualized yield of 13%, and my expected total return at maturity was about 6.5%. In early August, I needed money and wanted to liquidate the FT early. But I found there was no early redemption option—so I could only place it for sale on the market. I checked the order book: the deepest buy orders sat at 96% of par value, but between 93% and 96% there was less than 8000u in volume. Since I had to fully sell my 47000u, I had to push the price all the way down to 94.9% to get it filled.
In the end, the average execution price was 94.9%. Holding for about 2 months left me with roughly 960u—whereas if I had held to maturity, I should have received about 3055u. The remaining ~2100u of profit evaporated, accounting for about seventy percent of the expected return. The guaranteed redemption at maturity is 1 FT = 1 USDC. Selling early is a free-fall priced by the market—the difference between the two is the "price of being early".
FT’s design is actually very honest: it turns "time" into a source of yield, and it turns "time" into a cost of liquidity. People who need cash urgently are at a natural disadvantage in markets like this. So I wrote the lesson into the rules: before buying FT, first confirm that this money won’t be needed for the next six months—discipline #1 for fixed-income products isn’t return, it’s matching the term. What 47000u taught me is the true price of the word "early".
@TermMax #TermMax
