When I first set my Expert Advisor (EA) loose on the crypto markets, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Unlike forex, crypto never sleeps, 24/7 volatility meant my EA had to adapt to constant price swings, liquidity shifts, and sudden news-driven spikes. Here’s how the month unfolded.
Week 1: The Honeymoon Phase
The EA started strong. Its trend-following logic caught a few clean moves on Bitcoin and Ethereum, locking in modest gains. I felt reassured that my coding and backtesting weren’t just theoretical—they worked in live conditions.
Week 2: Reality Check
Then came the whipsaws. Crypto’s notorious volatility kicked in, and my EA struggled with false breakouts. Stop-losses triggered more often than I liked, and I realized that my parameters, optimized for forex, needed recalibration for crypto’s unique rhythm.
Week 3: Adjustments and Lessons
I tweaked position sizing and risk rules mid-month. Smaller trades reduced drawdowns, and I added filters to avoid trading during high-impact news events. The EA became more cautious, but also more consistent.
Week 4: The Verdict
By the end of the month, the account was slightly positive—nothing spectacular, but valuable. The real win wasn’t the profit, it was the insight: crypto demands adaptive strategies, tighter risk control, and a willingness to accept that automation doesn’t mean “set and forget.”
Key Takeaways
- Crypto’s 24/7 nature tests any EA’s resilience.
- Risk management matters more than chasing big wins.
- Backtests are only a starting point, live trading exposes blind spots.
- Automation is powerful, but human oversight remains essential.
Letting my EA trade crypto for a month was less about making money and more about learning how algorithms behave in a market that never sleeps. It was humbling, educational, and a reminder that trading is as much about adaptation as it is about execution.