How to Build a Crypto Trading Plan (With a One-Page Template)

Most traders do not have a plan. They have a feeling, a chart and a position. A trading plan is the opposite: a short written set of rules, made when you are calm, that tells you what to do when you are not.

It does not need to be long. One page is enough. What matters is that it is written down and that you follow it.

What a plan is for

A plan answers, in advance, the questions you would otherwise answer in the middle of a trade with money on the line. What can I trade? How much can I risk? When do I get in? When am I wrong? When do I take profit? When do I stop for the day?

The seven parts

1. What you trade

Define the universe. For example: spot only, altcoins with at least $1 million of daily volume, no leverage, no coins with red flags. This keeps you out of trades that were never suitable. See altcoin red flags.

2. Timeframe and style

Which chart do you decide on, and how long do you hold? A daily-chart swing trader has a different routine than a day trader. See swing trading.

3. Entry rules

Write the specific conditions that must be true before you buy. For instance: price above its 20-day average, a clear level nearby, volume rising, and no major unlock in the next two weeks. If the conditions are not met, no trade.

4. Risk rules

• Risk per trade: for example 1% of the account.
• Maximum total open risk: for example 5%.
• Maximum daily loss: for example 3%, after which you stop.

See position sizing and how many trades to take at once.

5. Exit rules

• Stop loss: where the idea is proven wrong, set before entry. See stop-loss strategies.
• Targets: where you take profit, and how much at each level. See how to take profit.
• Minimum risk-reward: for example nothing below 1 to 2. See risk-reward.

6. Rules for yourself

The rules that protect you from emotion:

• No new trade for an hour after a stop-out.
• No moving a stop further from entry.
• No trading when tired or distracted.
• No adding to a losing position.

See trading psychology.

7. Review

When and how you will review: after every trade in the journal, and once a month for the numbers. See what to track in a trading journal.

A one-page template

Copy this and fill in your own numbers:

• Market: spot altcoins, minimum $1M daily volume, no leverage
• Timeframe: daily chart, holds of days to weeks
• Entry needs: trend up, level nearby, volume confirming, no red flags, no big unlock soon
• Risk per trade: ___% of account
• Max total open risk: ___%
• Max loss in one day: ___%, then I stop
• Stop: beyond the level that proves me wrong, placed at entry
• Targets: T1 at , sell %; T2 at ___
• Minimum risk-reward: 1 to ___
• After a loss: wait ___ before the next trade
• Review: journal after each trade, full review monthly

Test it before you trust it

A plan is a hypothesis. Run it on a practice account for at least 30 to 50 trades and see what the numbers say before you put real money behind it. The open the terminal, free has a $100,000 practice account on live prices, with your closed trades recorded so you can measure the result honestly.

If you follow signals

A plan matters even more when someone else supplies the trade ideas. It decides which calls you take, at what size, and what you do when one goes against you. Follow the same rules for every signal, and record the results. See how to follow a crypto signal. A service that publishes every call and result, as we do, makes that measurement possible. 13 signals closed between 30 Jul 2026 and 21 Sep 2026.