Cortisol

Price independence

Cortisol was initially assumed to vary inversely with the price of the token held. Extended observation does not support this. In any holder observed beyond the first day, serum cortisol sits at the ceiling of the assay and remains there, and price movement — in either direction, of any magnitude — produces no measurable change.

The window below was selected arbitrarily. Both series are indexed to 100 at its open so they can share one axis. Price set an interim high near midday, gave back 59 per cent of it, and closed the window at a new high of 430. Cortisol does not move at all.

Anticipatory response

Elevation is not contingent on ownership. In subjects who have seen the token and not acquired it, serum cortisol rises on the same curve and reaches the same ceiling, the trigger being the observation of a price at which one did not buy. The condition is described in the holder literature as fear of missing out and in the endocrine literature as an ordinary anticipatory stress response, the two accounts differing only in tone.

Post-disposal response

Disposal does not resolve the condition. In subjects who have sold, cortisol remains above the reference limit and continues to rise, the mechanism shifting from anticipation to regret without an intervening decline. The effect is compounded by the price behaviour typically observed after an exit, shown below on the same axis.

Etymology

From cortex, the outer layer of the adrenal gland, and the suffix -ol, denoting an alcohol. The hormone was named for where it is made rather than for what it does, a convention Stragedy has adopted in naming its own instruments.

Structure

Cortisol (C₂₁H₃₀O₅) is a 21-carbon steroid derived from cholesterol. Its molecular mass is 362.46 g/mol. It is soluble in blood plasma, in which roughly 95 per cent is bound to corticosteroid-binding globulin. The remaining 5 per cent is free, biologically active, and refreshing the chart.

Function

Cortisol raises blood glucose, suppresses the immune system, and assists in the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrate. In its principal role it prepares the body for a threat by mobilising energy reserves. The mechanism evolved to prepare an organism to flee a predator or fight it. It does not offer a third option, which is the one most holders select.

Regulation

Secretion is governed by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. The hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone, the pituitary responds with adrenocorticotropic hormone, and the adrenal cortex releases cortisol. Cortisol then inhibits the release of both upstream hormones, forming a negative feedback loop. The loop is understood to be self-limiting under normal conditions. It has not been tested against an instrument whose stated cortisol rate is 100 per cent, and Stragedy has no plans to fund such a study, the results being available continuously and without charge from its holders.

Diurnal rhythm

In an unexposed adult, cortisol peaks 30 to 45 minutes after waking and declines through the day to a trough around midnight. In a holder, the awakening response is unchanged in timing and materially increased in amplitude, and the midnight trough is not observed, the holder being awake and checking. Where a trough does appear in the record it has generally been found to coincide with a chain outage.

Measurement

Serum cortisol is measured by immunoassay from a morning blood draw. Salivary and 24-hour urinary assays are also in use. In holders, all three have been found to correlate closely with a fourth measure, which requires no laboratory.

History

Cortisol was isolated in 1935 by Edward Kendall at the Mayo Clinic and characterised over the following decade, work for which Kendall shared the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Its role in the stress response was described by Hans Selye, who in 1936 defined stress as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change.” Selye conducted his work on rats and did not have access to a token, which he would have found clarifying.

Relationship to Stress

Cortisol is the underlying asset of Stress (STRS). One STRS token represents no claim on any cortisol, and no cortisol produced by a holder is transferred to the treasury, redeemed, or reflected in the token’s stated amount. The relationship is directional and terminal: acquiring STRS produces cortisol, producing cortisol does not produce STRS, and disposing of STRS has not been shown to reduce cortisol in any subject observed. See Notes.

See also

• Adrenaline — the acute counterpart, released on the first candle
• Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis
• Glucocorticoid
• Cushing’s syndrome — prolonged exposure to elevated cortisol; the clinical term for a full position
• Adrenal fatigue — not recognised by the endocrine societies, but widely reported in the holder literature
• Allostatic load — the cumulative cost of remaining adapted to conditions that do not improve
• Fight-or-flight response — see also the third option, described under Function
• Digital Cortisol — the amplified form; see STRS