Key facts
- Two modes: Run once places one limit order per rung and keeps working with the page closed; Repeat re-opens a rung every time its take profit closes, while the page is open.
- You choose the range as a % from the current price, 2 to 30 rungs, and the margin and leverage used by each rung.
- Every rung is its own position with its own liquidation price. A strong trend against you can open, and liquidate, all of them.
- Orders are queued: a triggered rung fills at the mid price when it executes, not exactly at the rung price.
- The Top 10 profitable strategies list ranks real results from Papertrade's trade history, and one click copies a strategy's settings.
What a grid strategy does
A grid splits one idea, "I want to buy ETH somewhere between 1% and 3% lower", into several smaller orders at evenly spaced prices called rungs. If the price dips a little, the first rung fills; if it dips further, more rungs fill at better prices. Each filled rung closes at its own take profit, so a market that swings up and down inside the range can pay out several small wins.
On a long, the rungs sit below the current price. On a short they sit above it, so the same tool sells into rallies. The grid is directional: it never holds a long and a short at the same time.
Run once or Repeat?
Run once is a ladder of limit orders. Each rung is signed once by your trading key and watched by the 1000xTrade background service, so it can trigger while the page is closed, and each rung trades only once. The take profit is optional. It is attached by the terminal after a rung's position opens; if a rung fills while the page is closed, its take profit is set the next time you open the terminal, so until then that position has no take profit.
Repeat is a classic grid bot. When the price crosses a rung, the terminal opens a position at market and sets its take profit. When that position closes, the rung re-arms after 10 seconds and trades again on the next cross. Repeat needs a take profit and a max loss, and it runs in your browser, so it works only while the terminal is open and in the foreground. Take profits it has already set keep working with the page closed.
Pick Run once to catch one dip or rally while you are away. Pick Repeat for a sideways market you can watch, where the same levels are likely to be crossed again and again.
How to set up a strategy
- Open the terminal, connect your wallet, deposit and enable one-click trading.
- Pick BTC or ETH and Long or Short, then click Strategy and choose Run once or Repeat.
- Set Start and End as a % from the current price, and the Number of rungs (2 to 30). The panel shows each end's price, the rung spacing and the total margin.
- Set Margin and Leverage. They apply to every rung, so the total margin is margin × rungs, and it must fit in your available balance.
- Enter a Take profit as a % return on margin. On Repeat, also enter a Max loss in USDC.
- Click Place N Orders (Run once) or Start Strategy (Repeat). Run once orders appear in the Orders tab; a running Repeat strategy shows its rungs and rounds in the order panel.
A worked example
Say ETH is at 2,000 and you go Long with 5 rungs from 1% to 3% below the price, 10 USDC margin and 20x leverage on each rung.
- The rungs sit at 1,980, 1,970, 1,960, 1,950 and 1,940, 0.5% apart.
- Total margin is 5 × 10 = 50 USDC, and each rung controls a 200 USDC position.
- A 20% take profit on margin needs a 1% move at 20x (20% ÷ 20). The 1,980 rung closes around 1,999.80 and makes about 2 USDC before protocol charges on gains.
- At 20x each rung is liquidated about 5% below its own entry. If ETH falls straight through the range and keeps going, all five rungs can be liquidated and the full 50 USDC is lost.
The take profit you enter is a return on margin, not a price move. Divide it by the leverage to see how far the price has to travel: 25% at 50x is a 0.5% move, 25% at 500x is 0.05%.
Copy a top-10 strategy
Open Top 10 profitable strategies in the Strategy tab to see the best results of the last 30 days. Each row shows the market and side, Run once or Repeat, the return, the range, rungs, take profit and margin, and how many trades it closed and won. Click Use to copy those settings into the form, then check the margin, leverage and max loss before you start: a setting that suited someone else's balance may not suit yours.
The ranking uses real closed trades from Papertrade's trade history, not numbers reported by the browser. For each strategy started in the terminal, trades with the same market, side, leverage and margin that opened while it ran (up to 7 days) are added up after charges. Return is profit divided by margin × rungs. A strategy needs at least 3 closed trades, and each trader appears once with their best strategy. Past results do not predict future ones.
What to watch out for
- Trends. A grid earns in a range and loses in a one-way move. A long grid in a falling market keeps buying until every rung is open and underwater.
- Liquidation. Rungs have no individual stop loss. Keep the whole range inside the liquidation distance of your leverage, and check it with the liquidation calculator.
- Max loss counts the whole account. Repeat compares your total account equity with the equity at the start, so losses on other positions count too. When it is hit, the strategy stops and closes its own positions.
- Queue and fill price. Papertrade processes trades in a queue. A triggered rung waits its turn (shown as Queued under Positions) and fills at the mid price when it executes. In a fast market the entry, and so the take profit level, can differ from the rung.
- Repeat needs the page. Mobile browsers pause background tabs. Crossings while the page is closed or in the background are skipped, not caught up.
- Balance. Rungs do not reserve margin. If your available balance is too low when a rung triggers, that open is rejected.
Strategy orders are price triggers built on top of Papertrade market orders. They can fill away from the rung price, trigger late or not at all, and several rungs can be liquidated together. Start with a few rungs, small margin and low leverage.
FAQ
Can I run a grid trading bot on Papertrade?
Yes, through the Strategy tab of the 1000xTrade terminal. Run once places a limit order at each rung of a price range and keeps working with the page closed. Repeat opens a position each time the price crosses a rung, takes profit, and re-arms the rung, while the page stays open.
Does the repeat grid run when I close the page?
No. Repeat runs in your browser and only while the terminal is open and in the foreground. Take profit orders for positions it already opened keep working with the page closed. If you reload, you can resume the saved strategy; price crossings while it was off are skipped.
Is there a stop loss on a grid strategy?
Repeat requires a max loss in USDC. If your account equity falls by that amount from when the strategy started, it stops and closes its positions. Individual rungs have no stop loss of their own: a rung that goes against you is closed by its take profit or liquidated.
How is the top 10 strategies ranking calculated?
From Papertrade's real trade history. For each strategy started in the terminal, closed trades with the same market, side, leverage and margin that opened while it ran (up to 7 days) are added up after charges. Return is profit divided by margin times rungs. A strategy needs at least 3 closed trades, and only the best one per trader is shown.
Try a small grid first
Deposit at least 10 USDC, pick 3–5 rungs and a low leverage, and watch how the rungs fill.