Crypto Scalping Basics
Before placing a single live trade, every scalper needs a working understanding of how crypto prices move, how orders are filled, what leverage actually does to your risk and how to size positions so that a losing streak cannot end your account.
This section covers the foundational mechanics that every other strategy and setup builds on. Skip these and you will keep misreading why your trades fail.
Start here
- How Crypto Prices Move — liquidity, orders and market structure
- Crypto Order Types — market, limit, stop and stop-limit explained
- Position Sizing & Risk Management — the formula every scalper must know
Beginner
- How Crypto Prices Move — what drives price at the micro level
- Crypto Order Types — when to use each order type and why
- Crypto Support and Resistance — how key levels form and how to use them
- Crypto Leverage Explained — margin, liquidation, and why less is more
Intermediate
- Crypto Trade Execution — fees, slippage and order quality
- Position Sizing & Risk Management — risk-per-trade, ATR stops, portfolio heat
- Crypto Market Correlation — Bitcoin leads, altcoins follow, equities influence
Advanced
- Trading Expectancy Explained — the only formula that decides if a strategy works long-term
- Win Rate vs Risk–Reward Ratio — how they interact to determine true profitability
Related topics
- Getting Started — beginner guides and setup
- Market Mechanics — funding, OI, liquidations and deeper structure
- Best Indicators for Scalping — technical tools that build on these concepts
FAQ
What is the 1% rule in scalping? Risk no more than 1% of your total account on any single trade. At this level, you can lose 20 consecutive trades and still have 80% of your capital intact.
Why does leverage kill most beginners? Because it magnifies losses identically to gains. A 10× leveraged position is liquidated after a 10% adverse move. Most new traders underestimate how often that happens on a short timeframe.
What is trading expectancy? Expectancy = (Win rate × Average win) − (Loss rate × Average loss). A strategy must have positive expectancy after fees to be viable long-term. See Trading Expectancy Explained.
Does a high win rate mean a strategy is profitable? No. A 70% win rate with a 1:3 average loss-to-win ratio is unprofitable. Win rate only means something in the context of your average risk-reward. See Win Rate vs Risk–Reward.
This content is educational only. Not financial advice. See disclaimer.