GuidesDCA Bot
DCA strategy
DCA Bot
Automate long and short entries or exits with disciplined, staged executions that smooth your average price over time.
How it works
Stage in, lower your average, exit in profit
Instead of committing all at once, the bot places a ladder of orders as price moves against you. Each fill pulls your average entry down, so price only has to recover part-way to reach your take-profit, where the position closes automatically.
When to use it
Common ways to run a DCA bot
Accumulate a position
With no Take Profit or Stop Loss set, the bot places every order and then holds the position.
- Time-based: stack a fixed size on a schedule, like $10 each day.
- Price-based: add to the position only when the market drops by your set gap.
Scale out of a position
Point the bot opposite an open position to unwind it in stages instead of one fill.
- A long DCA gradually closes an existing short.
- A short DCA gradually closes an existing long.
Run continuous cycles
Enable Continue After TP/SL and the bot opens a fresh cycle each time it closes, trading the strategy without manual restarts.
Setup
Configuration checklist
- Mode
Controls when new orders are placed so the bot follows your timing thesis.
- Time-based: orders place at fixed intervals no matter how the price moves.
- Price-based: orders wait for the market to move by a defined percent before placing.
- Direction
Decides how the bot adjusts the position.
- Long builds exposure or trims shorts while short does the opposite.
- Pick the bias that fits your trade direction.
- Execution strategy
Currently taker-only so orders fill immediately even in fast or thin markets.
- Order Size ($)
Defines the quote value for the initial order.
- Additional Orders
Controls how many follow-up orders arrive after the first execution.
- The bot always places one initial order.
- Additional Orders = 1 means two total executions.
- Take Profit (%)
Optional: closes the entire position once the market hits your profit target.
- Stop Loss (%)
Optional: closes the entire position if price moves against your average entry beyond the threshold.
- Continue After TP / SL
Determines what happens after a take-profit or stop-loss event.
- Disabled: the bot stops after closing the position.
- Enabled: a fresh execution cycle begins automatically.
Price vs time
Mode-specific controls
Price-Based Mode
Price Gap & Martingale
- Price Gap (%) defines how much the market must move before the next order triggers.
- Size Change (%) controls how each order scales after executing (Martingale-style increases).
Time-Based Mode
Interval
- Interval decides how frequently orders place regardless of price.
- Align order timing with your strategy to prevent overtrading or prolonged inactivity.
Worked example
A price-based ladder in numbers
| Order | Fill price | Size | New avg entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| BUY Initial | $3,000 | $100 | $3,000 |
| BUY #2 | $2,940 | $130 | $2,966 |
| BUY #3 | $2,880 | $170 | $2,930 |
| BUY #4 | $2,820 | $220 | $2,891 |
| BUY #5 | $2,760 | $290 | $2,849 |
Take-profit sits +1.8% above the final average, near $2,900.
Walkthrough
Step-by-step creation flow
- Choose the market and direction you want to target (long or short).
- Pick your mode and timing thesis: time-based intervals or price-based gaps plus any martingale sizing.
- Set the initial order size and number of additional orders you want to spread across the execution cycle.
- Add optional Take Profit, Stop Loss, and Continue After TP/SL rules to control what happens when a goal or limit triggers.
- Review your capital requirements and confirm execution strategy before launching the bot.
Bot lifecycle behavior
How a cycle ends
- With neither Take Profit nor Stop Loss enabled, the bot stops automatically after all configured orders (initial + additional) execute. Use this to build or exit positions.
- When TP or SL is enabled, the bot watches the average entry price. The position closes once TP or SL triggers, then either stops or restarts depending on your "Continue After TP/SL" setting.
Manual positions
Risks & safety notes
Before you deploy
- DCA reduces timing risk but does not protect against strong directional trends that keep moving against you.
- Martingale-style size increases drastically raise liquidation risk if the market keeps moving against the position.
- Open positions may incur funding payments over time.
- Make sure you have enough margin to support every planned order before starting the bot.
Ready to run a DCA Bot?
Stage your entries, smooth your average, and let the cycle run.