Golden Cross (SMA 50/200)¶
What it does: Follows long market trends using two slow averages; trades rarely and aims to cut deep losses. This buys when the 50-day average price crosses above the 200-day average (a 'golden cross') and sells when it crosses back below (a 'death cross'). An average here is the mean closing price over that many days.
Style: Trend · Difficulty: Beginner · Risk: medium · Ready: 2 of 2 variants
When people use it: It tends to work in long, steady trends that last months, where getting out early in a big fall matters more than catching every rise.
Where it struggles: It struggles in sideways years, where the averages cross back and forth and each flip can be a small loss, and after sudden V-shaped turns, where it gets in and out late.
Markets it was written for: BTC, ETH and large caps with long daily history. Timeframes: 1d (primary); 4h for a faster variant.
Open it in the Strategy Library (on the Strategies page), pick a variant, adjust the settings and press Add to my strategies. It becomes your own strategy: edit, backtest or trade it like any other.
Long (spot)¶
Follows long market trends using two slow averages; trades rarely and aims to cut deep losses.
Labels: Trend Following, Long, Spot, Beginner, Slow
- Direction: Buy (long) · Market: spot
- Trigger: On candle close · Main timeframe: Auto (1d)
Entry
- IF SMA(50) crosses above SMA(200) (1d)
Exit: Indicator-Based Exit
- IF SMA(50) crosses below SMA(200) (1d)
- Loss controls: Stop-loss % 20%
Settings
| Setting | Default | Editable | What changing it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast average | 50 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | The faster average (in days). Lower reacts sooner to new trends and trades more often, with more false signals in choppy markets; higher trades less and later. Changes both the entry and the exit cross. |
| Slow average | 200 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | The long-term trend line (in days). Lower makes signals come sooner and more often; higher makes them rarer and later but less likely to flip back. Changes both the entry and the exit cross. |
| Crash stop % | 20 | Yes | Closes the trade if the price moves this far against your entry, even without a cross. Tighter limits a single loss but may close good trades during normal dips; wider leaves room but risks a bigger loss. With leverage, keep it well inside your liquidation distance. |
How it works (as shown in the app)
- This buys when the 50-day average price crosses above the 200-day average (a 'golden cross') and sells when it crosses back below (a 'death cross'). An average here is the mean closing price over that many days.
- It checks once per daily candle close, so it trades rarely: months or even years can pass between trades.
- It tends to work in long, steady trends that last months, where getting out early in a big fall matters more than catching every rise.
- It struggles in sideways years, where the averages cross back and forth and each flip can be a small loss, and after sudden V-shaped turns, where it gets in and out late.
- It is built to step aside during long falls, not to catch every rise. Because it buys and sells late by design, in a steady rising market it can make less than simply buying and holding.
- The stop-loss is only a safety net for a crash; the normal exit is the opposite cross.
Short (perp): death cross¶
Shorts on the death cross as a hedge; trades rarely.
Labels: Trend Following, Short, Futures, Slow, Backtest Only
- Direction: Sell (short) · Market: swap
- Trigger: On candle close · Main timeframe: Auto (1d)
Entry
- IF SMA(50) crosses below SMA(200) (1d)
Exit: Indicator-Based Exit
- IF SMA(50) crosses above SMA(200) (1d)
- Loss controls: Stop-loss % 15%
Settings
| Setting | Default | Editable | What changing it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast average | 50 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | The faster average (in days). Lower reacts sooner to new trends and trades more often, with more false signals in choppy markets; higher trades less and later. Changes both the entry and the exit cross. |
| Slow average | 200 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | The long-term trend line (in days). Lower makes signals come sooner and more often; higher makes them rarer and later but less likely to flip back. Changes both the entry and the exit cross. |
| Crash stop % | 15 | Yes | Closes the trade if the price moves this far against your entry, even without a cross. Tighter limits a single loss but may close good trades during normal dips; wider leaves room but risks a bigger loss. With leverage, keep it well inside your liquidation distance. |
How it works (as shown in the app)
- This shorts when the 50-day average price crosses below the 200-day average (a 'death cross') and buys back when it crosses back above (a 'golden cross'). An average here is the mean closing price over that many days.
- It checks once per daily candle close, so it trades rarely.
- It tends to work in long, steady downtrends that last months.
- It struggles in sideways years, where the averages cross back and forth and each flip can be a small loss, and after sudden V-shaped recoveries, where it gets in and out late.
- The stop-loss is only a safety net against a sharp rally; the normal exit is the opposite cross.
- A slow trend rule shorts late, after much of the fall, and crypto falls can reverse sharply, so many people use this as a hedge rather than a main strategy.
- Shorting means you profit if the price falls and lose if it rises.
- Suggested leverage is at most 2x. On isolated margin, at 2x the exchange closes the position (liquidation) if the price moves about 49.7% against you, and you lose the margin you put into it. Keep your stop well inside that.
- For now this version runs in backtests only; paper and live futures trading are coming later.
Warnings¶
- "Backtest only for now: paper and live trading of shorts are coming later.": shown on short variants. They need perpetual or futures pairs.
- Some variants suggest leverage. On isolated margin a liquidation loses the margin in that position; keep any stop well inside the liquidation distance (the Trade Builder warns you when it isn't).
- Once added, the strategy's conditions get the usual condition checks. Messages show under each condition on the entry / exit conditions screen; setting errors start with the indicator's short name (for example "MACD: Fast must be between 1 and 1000") and block saving, while the other warnings never block saving and repeat in the strategy's Entry or Exit section. See the indicator pages below for each one.
- "You already have this strategy with these settings (…). Change a setting to add another copy.": shown on the variant's page in the Strategy Library when you already added this variant with the same settings.
Good to know¶
- After you add it, the strategy keeps the library's trigger and an Auto main timeframe; you can change both in the builder. Nothing links it back to the library, except that the builder still shows the library's explanations in the info bubbles.
- Changing a setting before adding it also changes the saved name, so you can tell copies apart.
- Past results don't predict future ones. Try it in a backtest and on paper before using real money.
- Indicators used: SMA.