Important update!
Futures DCA bots can now place Native Stop loss!
It means that the Stop loss order will be placed directly on the exchange along with the Limit Take profit orders (excluding the Trailing Take Profit order), and in case of high market volatility, your Stop loss will be processed right on the exchange fast and with no delays!
It currently works only on the Futures accounts listed below and not on Spot accounts, yet.
If, for some reason, the exchange does not let the bot place a Native Stop loss, it will be processed as usual by 3Commas.
This feature is available for the following exchanges:
Binance Futures (USDT-M, COIN-M)
Bybit Futures (USDT perp., Inverse perp.)
Gate.io Futures
This article mostly describes how to set up the Stop Loss for SmartTrade and its options. However, the information is also applicable and very useful for setting up the Stop Loss in DCA bots.
Where to set up Stop Loss?
Here you can change the following settings:
Choose the order type - Cond. Limit Order or Cond. Market Order. More information about these types is in this article.
Set the Stop Loss order price. You can either manually input the price or the percentage of SL. To switch between these types, click on the price or % value. On the screenshot, it is a trigger price and it's -3%.
2.a.
If you choose Cond. Limit Order type like on the screenshot above, you will need to specify the price where to place the Limit order. This field is not available for Cond. Market Order. You can either manually input the price or the percentage of SL. To switch between these types, click on the price or % value. On the screenshot, it's -3,5%.Set the Stop Loss timeout if needed. Read more details later in this article.
Enable Trailing Stop Loss if needed. Learn more about Trailing Stop Loss.
Enable Move to Breakeven feature if needed. Read more about Move to Breakeven.
Short information about approximate loss and risk/reward ratio.
Stop loss is the tool that helps you to prevent bigger losses in case the market goes in the wrong direction. The most common Stop Loss: when the price falls to or below the price you set, the system closes the transaction.
For example:
You enable Stop Loss;
You buy 1 ETH for $1800 and set a Stop Loss of -5%, at $1710;
You select a convenient Price follow method — see which method to choose here;
ETH trades for a while at around $1800 but then begins to fall. At a certain time, the price reaches $1710 and the system sells your ETH on the market or places the Limit order. More info about Order types is in this article.
Stop Loss is used primarily to limit possible losses. Some traders also use it in already profitable trades so that, if the price falls, the profit won’t be lost or the position will close at 0.
What is Stop Loss timeout?
Simply put, when the Stop Loss timeout is enabled, the system will delay closing a trade by Stop Loss should the price fall to or below the Stop Loss price you configured:
Why would you want to use this?
You may have noticed that when trading some charts, you experience "wicks" or "fake-outs" where the price drops suddenly but comes back up quickly. Sometimes, this is due to poor liquidity or low trading volume. Other times, this may be liquidity or Stop Loss "hunt". Either way, if you experience these issues, you may want to use a Stop Loss timeout to ensure your trade is only closed if the price falls below your traditional Stop Loss setting and doesn't recover within a few minutes.
The more frequently you trade specific coin pairs, you'll notice any patterns or behavior specific to the pair, such as sudden price drops, and then the price goes on to recover within 5-15 minutes, for example.
How does it work?
If the price drops to or below the Stop Loss level you set, the system will wait for the specified number of seconds and perform the following actions:
If the price is AT or BELOW the Stop Loss level set, the position will be closed by Stop Loss;
If the price rises back above the Stop Loss level, the trade will remain open, and the counter will reset.
What is Trailing Stop Loss?
The Trailing Stop Loss, or TSL, is a feature designed to help you follow the trend.
You set Stop Loss and activate the trailing feature. Then the system adjusts your Stop Loss price every time the price touches a new high. Your SL follows the price and stays below the latest high on a specified percentage. The drawback is that your trade could stop too early if the price is too volatile or you have a very tight SL for that particular case.
The key is to find the SL percentage for each trade individually, as there are no universal settings. When using TSL, the percentage means that the SL triggers as soon as the price drops that % from the latest high.
Enable it with one click
For SmartTrades, turn on the Trailing Stop Loss by turning the switch green:
For DCA bots, turn on the Stop Loss feature first and then enable Trailing stop loss feature:
That's all. The system remembers the current coin price when the trade goes into active mode. Then it compares that price with the current market rate all the time. The system moves SL up every time the current price is higher than the remembered one. It uses the difference between these prices to determine how far it should move the SL. After the move is made, the system updates the remembered price and starts comparing it again. That process is active until the trade closes by any condition, be it SL, TP or market close.
Check this GIF for a better understanding:
What is Move to Breakeven?
The Move to Breakeven feature in SmartTrades will automatically move your Stop Loss to the entry price of your trade when the first Take Profit price you specified is met. It works only if you have at least 2 Take Profit targets.
For example:
You created a Smart Trade to buy 1 ETH for $100. You decide to risk 10% in this trade but expect a profit of between 10-30%.
You put a Stop Loss at $90 and place three Take Profit orders in split targets with 10% steps. So:
TP step 1 is $110
TP step 2 is $120
TP step 3 is $130.
Upon reaching the first Take Profit order ($110), the Stop Loss is transferred from $90 to the entry price ($100 + exchange fee).
Upon reaching Take Profit step 2 ($120), the Stop Loss remains at "Breakeven" to ensure if the price reverses, the trade will be closed without incurring loss.
ETH price | Stop Loss price |
$100 | $90 |
$95 | $90 |
$92 | $90 |
$105 | $90 |
$110 (TP 1) | $100 |
$120 (TP 2) | $100 |
$105 | $100 |
As can be seen in the table above, the price of Ethereum fell, but the Stop Loss was not triggered, then the price started to rise, and when the price reached the first Take Profit of $110, the Stop Loss was transferred to breakeven, at the price of $100.
Then, as the price increases, the Stop Loss remains at $100. When the price starts to fall, even below the Take Profit step 1, the Stop Loss remains at the breakeven price of $100.