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Configuring DCA levels safely

How to size your DCA levels so a bad pair can't drain your account.

The capital-doubling problem

DCA multipliers compound. If you set 5 DCA levels each multiplied by 2, your total exposure is:

$100 × (1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32) = $6,300

per pair — for a $100 starting entry. Across multiple pairs, this can drain your account fast if several pairs DCA deeply at once (which is what happens in a broad market crash — they all DCA together).

Rule of thumb: set max-capital BEFORE picking multipliers

Pick how much of your total bankroll you're willing to risk on a single pair, then work the multipliers backwards to fit. Example:

  • Bankroll: $10,000.
  • You're trading 10 pairs.
  • If they all DCA deeply at once, each pair can hit its max-capital.
  • So no single pair's max-capital should exceed $1,000 (10%).

Set the pair's "Maximum capital per pair" field accordingly. The bot will skip deeper DCAs once that cap is reached.

Multiplier guidance

Common DCA-multiplier shapes, from conservative to aggressive:

1 / 1 / 2 / 2 (conservative)
Slow ramp; works well in choppy ranges; little exposure if a pair tanks.
1 / 2 / 4 / 8 (geometric)
Standard DCA shape; doubles cost basis improvement per level.
1 / 3 / 9 / 27 (aggressive)
Heavy bottom-fishing; only do this on pairs you have very high conviction in AND with a max-capital that genuinely caps the blast radius.

Test with paper trades first

The bot has a dry-run mode (via CLI flag --dry-run) that simulates fills without placing real orders. If you're testing a new config, run dry for a day or two and inspect the simulated activity feed before going live.

Diversify across pairs, not within pairs

Adding more pairs (with sane max-capital each) reduces the risk of any one pair killing your account. Stacking more DCA levels on one pair concentrates risk in that pair.

Watch the "losing-money" banner

The dashboard shows a red banner if combined P&L drops below −2% of equity today. If you see it repeatedly across days, your current config might be too aggressive for current market conditions — review your DCA depths.