Grid

Buy the dips, sell the bounces inside a fixed band. Profitable in range, bleeds when the band breaks.

What it is

Reference — Glowwiki: 그리드 트레이딩
The definitions and formulas below follow that article. It states its own limit plainly:
“실제 수익으로 이어지는지는 이 문서에서 다루지 않음.”
That is the question this page answers.

Note from the reference: The name "grid trading" has no regulator or encyclopaedia definition — the reference article establishes this explicitly. What does have one is the mechanism: the CFTC glossary defines Scale Down/Up as buying or selling at regular price intervals as the market declines or advances. Placing that ladder in both directions at once is an extension of that definition, not something the source describes.

Rule-based range trading, widely automated on FX and crypto venues. The name itself has no official definition. Also known as Range grid, ladder.

Formulas

Grid step

Δ = (upper − lower) / N

N = number of levels

Profit per round trip

π = q · Δ − fees

q = size per level

Break-even step

Δ > p · (2f + 2s)

Fees and slippage on both legs set a floor on grid spacing

Established

The CFTC glossary defines Scale Down (or Up) as buying or selling at regular price intervals in a declining or advancing market — the mechanism a grid uses. [1]
The term "grid trading" itself has no regulator or encyclopaedia definition; it is industry usage. [2]

Backed by 2 independent publishers. U.S. CFTC · Glowwiki — separate institutions describing the same thing from their own material.

Conventional reading

Running the ladder in both directions at once is an extension of the regulator's order-placement definition, not something that definition describes. [1, 2]
Tighter grids trade more often but are more exposed to fees; the break-even spacing depends on the venue's fee schedule. [2]

Listed as convention, not as established fact.

Sources

Glossary — Scale Down (or Up) — U.S. CFTC (en)
그리드 트레이딩 — Glowwiki (ko)

The short answer

Beat buy & hold in none of the 3 markets tested.

Gold (PAXG) -109% · BTC/USDT -498%. A rule that wins in one market and loses in another did not find an edge; it found a rising asset. Each figure is measured only against buying and holding that same market over that same period.

Market	Return	Buy & hold	vs B&H	Beat it	Max DD	Underwater	Grid beat
BTC/USDT	32%	530%	-498%	no	49%	1292d	0%
ETH/USDT	32%	276%	-244%	no	55%	2088d	0%
Gold (PAXG)	10%	119%	-109%	no	10%	410d	0%

All figures on this page are from daily candles unless a row says otherwise.

Evidence

Everything below is the same rules run over real price history. Pick a market to see the fills, the equity path and the parameter grid for it.

Daily candlesBTC/USDT · 3188 bars · 2018-01-01 → 2026-09-23

Total return

31.7%

10,000 → 13,170

vs buy & hold

-498.2%

over the same period 529.9%

Max drawdown

49.1%

10,000 → 5,319

Longest underwater

1292

1292 days · 92% of the period

Settings that beat it

0 / 16

of 16 parameter settings tested

Win rate

100%

95% CI 95%–100% · n=75

A 0% risk of ruin here is a property of the test, not a safety rating. These runs are long-only spot with no borrowed money, so there is no margin call and nothing can force the position closed. The account cannot be wiped out — it gets stuck holding the asset instead. Capital deployed (10×) and max drawdown (49.1%) are the numbers that carry the risk on this page. The same rules run on margin would be a different measurement, and this figure would not stay at zero.

Daily candles

account equitybuy & holddashed = starting capital

150 fills. Signals are taken on the close and filled at the next open.

Timeframe

Everything above uses the daily row. These are the same rules and the same parameters on a different candle size.

Timeframe	Return	Buy & hold	vs B&H	Beat it	Trades
4H	38%	524%	-486%	no	89
1D ←	32%	530%	-498%	no	75
1W	15%	524%	-509%	no	40

Outcome distribution

A single return is one chosen start date. These are 95 runs of the same rules with the start shifted forward 30 days at a time.

Worst	p10	p25	Median	p75	p90	Best	Losing starts
-55.8%	-29.9%	-3.2%	4.1%	10.4%	15.4%	29.8%	29%

Does it survive its own parameters?

The headline above uses one parameter setting. Here is every setting tested: 16 combinations, median 19.8%, best 52.2%, worst 6.5%. 0 of them beat buy & hold.

A strategy that only works at one setting did not work — it was fitted.

Parameter grid

Grid run across its own parameter range over the full period. The same rules flip from profit to loss depending only on the numbers you picked — which is why a single headline return is meaningless on its own.

	levels 5	levels 10	levels 20	levels 30
rangePct 0.15	14%	18%	12%	7%
rangePct 0.25	20%	32%	20%	10%
rangePct 0.4	29%	42%	28%	17%
rangePct 0.6	28%	52%	49%	28%

Hover a cell for trade count and drawdown. “·” = invalid combination (fast ≥ slow).

Year by year

Year	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Return	-44%	4%	13%	21%	-44%	2%	5%	9%	2%
Max DD	49%	6%	23%	2%	47%	0%	6%	9%	20%
Trades	32	10	35	62	16	6	13	41	14

Recent closed trades 75 closed trades — showing the last 40

Entered	Entry	Exited	Exit	Held	Size	P&L (USDT)	Return
2022-11-28	16,064.03	2022-11-30	16,716.64	2 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2022-11-21	16,064.03	2022-11-24	16,716.64	3 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2022-11-14	16,064.03	2022-11-15	16,716.64	1 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2022-11-09	16,064.03	2022-11-10	16,716.64	1 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2018-01-08	16,064.03	2020-11-16	16,716.64	1043 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2018-01-08	15,394.69	2020-11-12	16,047.97	1039 bars	800.8	+32.31	+4.0%
2020-11-07	14,725.36	2020-11-08	15,379.31	1 bars	800.8	+33.89	+4.2%
2018-01-10	14,725.36	2020-11-05	15,379.31	1030 bars	800.8	+33.89	+4.2%
2018-01-12	14,056.02	2020-11-05	14,710.64	1028 bars	800.8	+35.62	+4.5%
2020-11-02	13,386.69	2020-11-03	14,041.98	1 bars	800.8	+37.52	+4.7%
2018-01-16	13,386.69	2020-10-31	14,041.98	1019 bars	800.8	+37.52	+4.7%
2019-06-27	12,717.36	2020-10-27	13,373.31	488 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2019-07-10	12,048.02	2020-10-21	12,704.64	469 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2020-09-02	11,378.69	2020-10-21	12,035.98	49 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2020-09-03	10,709.35	2020-10-10	11,367.31	37 bars	800.8	+47.5	+5.9%
2020-09-03	10,040.02	2020-09-14	10,698.65	11 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2020-08-25	11,378.69	2020-09-01	12,035.98	7 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2020-08-11	11,378.69	2020-08-17	12,035.98	6 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2020-08-03	11,378.69	2020-08-10	12,035.98	7 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2020-08-02	10,709.35	2020-08-03	11,367.31	1 bars	800.8	+47.5	+5.9%
2019-08-10	11,378.69	2020-08-02	12,035.98	358 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2020-07-28	10,709.35	2020-07-31	11,367.31	3 bars	800.8	+47.5	+5.9%
2019-08-14	10,709.35	2020-07-27	11,367.31	348 bars	800.8	+47.5	+5.9%
2019-09-10	10,040.02	2020-07-27	10,698.65	321 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2019-08-21	10,040.02	2019-09-03	10,698.65	13 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2019-08-14	10,040.02	2019-08-19	10,698.65	5 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2019-07-11	11,378.69	2019-08-06	12,035.98	26 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2019-07-14	10,709.35	2019-08-05	11,367.31	22 bars	800.8	+47.5	+5.9%
2019-07-23	10,040.02	2019-08-03	10,698.65	11 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2019-07-17	10,040.02	2019-07-18	10,698.65	1 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2019-07-15	10,040.02	2019-07-16	10,698.65	1 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2019-06-27	12,048.02	2019-07-09	12,704.64	12 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2019-06-30	11,378.69	2019-07-08	12,035.98	8 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2019-07-01	10,709.35	2019-07-03	11,367.31	2 bars	800.8	+47.5	+5.9%
2019-07-01	10,040.02	2019-07-02	10,698.65	1 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2019-06-27	11,378.69	2019-06-28	12,035.98	1 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2019-06-27	10,709.35	2019-06-28	11,367.31	1 bars	800.8	+47.5	+5.9%
2018-01-16	12,717.36	2019-06-26	13,373.31	526 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2018-01-21	12,048.02	2019-06-26	12,704.64	521 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2018-01-29	11,378.69	2019-06-26	12,035.98	513 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%

Prices include slippage; size is what was actually committed to that trade including fees.

Assumptions

Period	2018-01-01 → 2026-09-23
Parameters	{"rangePct":0.25,"levels":10,"allocPct":0.08}
Rolling test	365 bars × 95 start dates
Input hash	60e7fc1751919037

Daily candlesETH/USDT · 3188 bars · 2018-01-01 → 2026-09-23

Total return

31.6%

10,000 → 13,161

vs buy & hold

-244.2%

over the same period 275.8%

Max drawdown

55.4%

10,000 → 5,286

Longest underwater

2088

2088 days · 99% of the period

Settings that beat it

0 / 16

of 16 parameter settings tested

Win rate

100%

95% CI 95%–100% · n=81

A 0% risk of ruin here is a property of the test, not a safety rating. These runs are long-only spot with no borrowed money, so there is no margin call and nothing can force the position closed. The account cannot be wiped out — it gets stuck holding the asset instead. Capital deployed (10×) and max drawdown (55.4%) are the numbers that carry the risk on this page. The same rules run on margin would be a different measurement, and this figure would not stay at zero.

Daily candles

account equitybuy & holddashed = starting capital

162 fills. Signals are taken on the close and filled at the next open.

Timeframe

Everything above uses the daily row. These are the same rules and the same parameters on a different candle size.

Timeframe	Return	Buy & hold	vs B&H	Beat it	Trades
4H	35%	271%	-236%	no	91
1D ←	32%	276%	-244%	no	81
1W	29%	271%	-242%	no	77

Outcome distribution

A single return is one chosen start date. These are 95 runs of the same rules with the start shifted forward 30 days at a time.

Worst	p10	p25	Median	p75	p90	Best	Losing starts
-68.7%	-32.1%	-9.8%	6.5%	14.8%	20.6%	42.6%	33%

Does it survive its own parameters?

The headline above uses one parameter setting. Here is every setting tested: 16 combinations, median 29.1%, best 67.1%, worst 10.1%. 0 of them beat buy & hold.

A strategy that only works at one setting did not work — it was fitted.

Parameter grid

	levels 5	levels 10	levels 20	levels 30
rangePct 0.15	17%	22%	16%	10%
rangePct 0.25	20%	32%	27%	17%
rangePct 0.4	29%	42%	45%	29%
rangePct 0.6	33%	54%	67%	48%

Hover a cell for trade count and drawdown. “·” = invalid combination (fast ≥ slow).

Year by year

Year	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Return	-42%	16%	14%	2%	-47%	2%	14%	13%	-1%
Max DD	55%	15%	11%	0%	52%	0%	5%	38%	33%
Trades	62	60	38	5	13	7	39	55	13

Recent closed trades 81 closed trades — showing the last 40

Entered	Entry	Exited	Exit	Held	Size	P&L (USDT)	Return
2022-06-18	906.44	2022-06-19	943.27	1 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2021-01-04	906.44	2021-01-05	943.27	1 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2018-02-20	906.44	2021-01-03	943.27	1048 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2018-02-21	868.67	2021-01-03	905.54	1047 bars	800.8	+32.31	+4.0%
2018-03-06	830.9	2021-01-03	867.8	1034 bars	800.8	+33.89	+4.2%
2018-05-06	793.14	2021-01-03	830.07	973 bars	800.8	+35.62	+4.5%
2018-05-08	755.37	2021-01-03	792.34	971 bars	800.8	+37.52	+4.7%
2021-01-01	717.6	2021-01-02	754.61	1 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2018-05-11	717.6	2020-12-30	754.61	964 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2018-05-22	679.83	2020-12-28	716.88	951 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2018-05-22	642.06	2020-12-27	679.15	950 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2020-12-21	604.29	2020-12-26	641.42	5 bars	800.8	+47.5	+5.9%
2020-12-23	566.53	2020-12-24	603.69	1 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2018-05-23	604.29	2020-12-17	641.42	939 bars	800.8	+47.5	+5.9%
2020-12-08	566.53	2020-12-16	603.69	8 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2020-12-04	566.53	2020-12-06	603.69	2 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2020-12-01	566.53	2020-12-02	603.69	1 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2020-11-25	566.53	2020-11-30	603.69	5 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2018-06-10	566.53	2020-11-23	603.69	897 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2018-05-27	566.53	2018-06-03	603.69	7 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2018-05-23	566.53	2018-05-24	603.69	1 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2018-05-18	679.83	2018-05-19	716.88	1 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2018-05-16	679.83	2018-05-17	716.88	1 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2018-05-11	679.83	2018-05-13	716.88	2 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2018-05-12	642.06	2018-05-13	679.15	1 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2018-05-09	717.6	2018-05-10	754.61	1 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2018-05-07	717.6	2018-05-08	754.61	1 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2018-05-06	755.37	2018-05-07	792.34	1 bars	800.8	+37.52	+4.7%
2018-03-07	793.14	2018-05-05	830.07	59 bars	800.8	+35.62	+4.5%
2018-03-07	755.37	2018-05-04	792.34	58 bars	800.8	+37.52	+4.7%
2018-03-08	717.6	2018-05-03	754.61	56 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2018-03-14	679.83	2018-05-03	716.88	50 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2018-05-01	642.06	2018-05-02	679.15	1 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2018-04-28	642.06	2018-04-29	679.15	1 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2018-04-25	642.06	2018-04-27	679.15	2 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2018-04-25	604.29	2018-04-26	641.42	1 bars	800.8	+47.5	+5.9%
2018-03-14	642.06	2018-04-24	679.15	41 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2018-03-14	604.29	2018-04-22	641.42	39 bars	800.8	+47.5	+5.9%
2018-03-17	566.53	2018-04-20	603.69	34 bars	800.8	+50.83	+6.3%
2018-03-11	679.83	2018-03-12	716.88	1 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%

Prices include slippage; size is what was actually committed to that trade including fees.

Assumptions

Period	2018-01-01 → 2026-09-23
Parameters	{"rangePct":0.25,"levels":10,"allocPct":0.08}
Rolling test	365 bars × 95 start dates
Input hash	004b38b0db303255

Daily candlesGold (PAXG) · 2214 bars · 2020-09-01 → 2026-09-23

Total return

9.9%

10,000 → 10,986

vs buy & hold

-108.7%

over the same period 118.6%

Max drawdown

9.6%

10,000 → 9,133

Longest underwater

410

410 days · 62% of the period

Settings that beat it

0 / 16

of 16 parameter settings tested

Win rate

100%

95% CI 87%–100% · n=26

A 0% risk of ruin here is a property of the test, not a safety rating. These runs are long-only spot with no borrowed money, so there is no margin call and nothing can force the position closed. The account cannot be wiped out — it gets stuck holding the asset instead. Capital deployed (8×) and max drawdown (9.6%) are the numbers that carry the risk on this page. The same rules run on margin would be a different measurement, and this figure would not stay at zero.

Daily candles

account equitybuy & holddashed = starting capital

52 fills. Signals are taken on the close and filled at the next open.

Timeframe

Everything above uses the daily row. These are the same rules and the same parameters on a different candle size.

Timeframe	Return	Buy & hold	vs B&H	Beat it	Trades
4H	11%	119%	-108%	no	29
1D ←	10%	119%	-109%	no	26
1W	8%	123%	-115%	no	20

Outcome distribution

A single return is one chosen start date. These are 62 runs of the same rules with the start shifted forward 30 days at a time.

Worst	p10	p25	Median	p75	p90	Best	Losing starts
-4.7%	-3.2%	-1.0%	2.1%	2.8%	3.3%	5.2%	31%

Does it survive its own parameters?

The headline above uses one parameter setting. Here is every setting tested: 16 combinations, median 8.7%, best 13.7%, worst 2.6%. 0 of them beat buy & hold.

A strategy that only works at one setting did not work — it was fitted.

Parameter grid

	levels 5	levels 10	levels 20	levels 30
rangePct 0.15	6%	12%	11%	3%
rangePct 0.25	5%	10%	12%	5%
rangePct 0.4	5%	9%	14%	7%
rangePct 0.6	7%	9%	12%	9%

Hover a cell for trade count and drawdown. “·” = invalid combination (fast ≥ slow).

Year by year

Year	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Return	-3%	-2%	1%	2%	3%	3%
Max DD	7%	8%	3%	1%	1%	5%
Trades	6	5	6	7	8	19

Recent closed trades 26 closed trades — showing the last 26

Entered	Entry	Exited	Exit	Held	Size	P&L (USDT)	Return
2024-08-05	2,378.69	2024-08-13	2,475.32	8 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2024-04-19	2,378.69	2024-08-02	2,475.32	105 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2024-05-04	2,279.58	2024-05-15	2,376.31	11 bars	800.8	+32.31	+4.0%
2024-04-14	2,378.69	2024-04-15	2,475.32	1 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2020-09-01	2,378.69	2024-04-13	2,475.32	1320 bars	800.8	+30.87	+3.9%
2020-09-01	2,279.58	2024-04-12	2,376.31	1319 bars	800.8	+32.31	+4.0%
2020-09-01	2,180.46	2024-04-03	2,277.3	1310 bars	800.8	+33.89	+4.2%
2020-09-01	2,081.35	2024-03-20	2,178.29	1296 bars	800.8	+35.62	+4.5%
2023-12-09	1,982.24	2024-03-05	2,079.27	87 bars	800.8	+37.52	+4.7%
2023-05-17	1,982.24	2023-12-03	2,079.27	200 bars	800.8	+37.52	+4.7%
2023-07-03	1,883.13	2023-10-27	1,980.26	116 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2021-01-06	1,982.24	2023-05-04	2,079.27	848 bars	800.8	+37.52	+4.7%
2022-04-26	1,883.13	2023-03-17	1,980.26	325 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2023-02-13	1,784.02	2023-03-11	1,881.25	26 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2022-07-05	1,784.02	2023-01-11	1,881.25	190 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2022-09-01	1,684.9	2022-11-11	1,782.23	71 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2022-07-16	1,684.9	2022-08-02	1,782.23	17 bars	800.8	+44.57	+5.6%
2022-02-26	1,883.13	2022-03-06	1,980.26	8 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2021-05-17	1,883.13	2022-02-24	1,980.26	283 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2021-11-23	1,784.02	2022-02-12	1,881.25	81 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2021-06-17	1,784.02	2021-11-16	1,881.25	152 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2021-01-08	1,883.13	2021-05-16	1,980.26	128 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2021-02-19	1,784.02	2021-05-09	1,881.25	79 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%
2020-09-01	1,982.24	2021-01-05	2,079.27	126 bars	800.8	+37.52	+4.7%
2020-09-23	1,883.13	2021-01-02	1,980.26	101 bars	800.8	+39.62	+5.0%
2020-11-27	1,784.02	2020-12-07	1,881.25	10 bars	800.8	+41.96	+5.2%

Prices include slippage; size is what was actually committed to that trade including fees.

Assumptions

Period	2020-09-01 → 2026-09-23
Parameters	{"rangePct":0.25,"levels":10,"allocPct":0.08}
Rolling test	365 bars × 62 start dates
Input hash	2cfc1fb9b1015221

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