How the rule works
RSI above 50 means the recent candles have risen more than they’ve fallen. This rule buys the moment RSI crosses above 50, on the idea that buyers are taking over, and sells as soon as RSI drops below 45. In the app’s quick builder the same idea is called Follow momentum.
How it did
Every test used a 1,000 USDT balance, 1-hour candles, 0.1% fees and 0.05% slippage, on Binance prices from 20 July to 30 October 2026. Prices rose over those 102 days.
| Coin | This rule | Holding | Trades won | Worst drop | Holding’s worst drop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTC | −11.9% | +19.7% | 16 of 76 | −19.6% | −12.1% |
| ETH | −22.8% | +19.8% | 15 of 86 | −30.2% | −21.2% |
| SOL | −17.4% | +25.7% | 15 of 81 | −31.6% | −24.5% |
| BNB | −4.2% | +23.6% | 16 of 71 | −18.1% | −13.5% |
It lost on every coin. We publish it because a losing test is the most useful kind. Most simple momentum rules look sensible and behave like this.
It traded about five times a week. On BTC the 76 trades cost about 147 USDT in fees alone, on a 1,000 USDT balance. The rule would have needed to earn 15% before fees to break even.
RSI crosses 50 all the time. On 1-hour candles the line hovers around the middle, so the rule buys and sells on noise.
When it tends to work, and when it doesn’t
It can work when a move is sharp and keeps going. It fails in any market that drifts, which is most of the time, because every small wobble around 50 becomes a trade.
What to change first
- Trade less. Use 4-hour candles, or add a cooldown so it can’t re-enter straight after a loss.
- Widen the gap. Buying above 55 and selling below 45 skips much of the noise around the middle.
- Add a trend filter. Only buy when the price is above its 50-candle average.
Common questions
Why do momentum bots lose money?
Usually because they trade too often. Each trade pays fees and slippage twice, and a signal that fires several times a week has to be right far more often than this one was.
Is this template worth running?
Not as it is. It’s a starting point for learning what a change does. Test your version and compare it with holding before you run anything.
How many trades is too many?
Work out the fees. At 0.1% a side, 80 trades cost about 16% of the money in each trade. If the test’s profit before fees isn’t well above that, the rule is working for the exchange.
What this doesn’t tell you
This is one period of 102 days in a market that went up. The same rule can do better or worse in a different market, and it says nothing about what happens next. The past doesn’t predict the future.
You can run this test yourself on the testing page, then change the rule, the coin and the stop loss and watch the result move.