Stop-Loss & Take-Profit (SL/TP)
In numbers it's simple. Say you buy Bitcoin at $100,000. Put the stop-loss at $97,000 (-3%) and the take-profit at $106,000 (+6%), and whichever level price touches first closes the position automatically. No need to watch the chart all night — your maximum loss is pinned around -3%.
Crypto trades around the clock. Price moves while you sleep and while you're at work. Holding on without a stop — 'it'll come back if I just wait' — until a single crash takes most of the account is the most common way beginners leave the market for good. A stop-loss is a device for deciding in advance how much you lose when you're wrong.
How wide to set the stop is itself a trade-off. A tight stop keeps each loss small but gets hit by perfectly normal fluctuations. A wide stop triggers less often but costs more when it does. There's no magic number that fits everyone — it's a design variable that has to be read as a set with win rate and risk-reward.
One thing to know: a stop-loss doesn't guarantee 'exactly that price.' A stop usually fires a market order once the trigger price is touched, so in a fast crash you can be filled worse than the level you set. That's slippage. Still far safer than having no stop at all.
Take-profits carry a trap of their own. Set the target very tight and the win-rate number shoots up — every small uptick gets recorded as a 'win.' But if many small wins can't cover one big loss, the sum is negative. A higher-looking win rate doesn't mean a better setting — you can verify this directly in the real data below.
What the data actually shows
Barobara's signal detail pages publish tables of how win rate and expected value changed depending on where the take-profit (TP) was placed after each signal fired. Look at the RSI oversold (1h) page: as the TP gets tighter, the win-rate number climbs while the expected value slides into negative territory in some stretches — it's all right there. These numbers are past distributions, not predictions — no SL/TP combination guarantees future results. The full signal list is in the setup statistics.
Common misconceptions
"Stop-losses are for losers?" The opposite. Holding without a stop until one crash guts the account is the most common exit from this market. A stop-loss isn't about winning a standoff — it's a management device that fixes, in advance, how much you lose when wrong.
"Tighten the TP, pump the win rate, and you've got a winning strategy?" Only the win-rate number goes up. If many small wins can't cover one big loss, the total is negative. Win rate and risk-reward must always be read as a set.
FAQ
Q. What percentage should my stop-loss be?
There's no answer that fits everyone. The more volatile the asset, the more a tight stop gets clipped by ordinary fluctuations. Try flipping the order: first decide what percentage of your total capital you're willing to lose per stop-out, then size the position to match.
Q. Will my stop-loss fill at exactly the price I set?
No. A stop typically fires a market order when the trigger price is touched, so during a sharp crash it can fill at a worse price (slippage). It's still far safer than staying exposed with no stop at all.