Paper trading runs a strategy in a simulated environment using live market data but no real capital. Orders are modelled, not sent to the exchange — so you can see exactly how a strategy behaves before a single cent is at risk.
Why start here#
Every new strategy should start in paper mode. It is the safest way to confirm that your conditions fire when you expect and that your execution settings behave the way you intended. Nothing about the account balance changes; you are only watching the strategy think.
Zero trades at first is normal#
If the bot places no trades in its first hour, that is expected — it is being disciplined, not broken. A strategy only acts when its conditions are actually met, and good conditions are selective. Quiet stretches mean the market has not offered a setup that matches your rules, which is exactly how it should work.
Moving to live#
When you are satisfied with how a strategy performs in paper mode, you can switch it to live trading. When you do:
- Start small. Size positions conservatively for the first live runs.
- Monitor for 24–48 hours. Keep an eye on the terminal so you can see live behaviour and use pause or kill controls if you need to.
You can return a strategy to paper mode at any time to keep testing changes.