---
title: "Paper trading for crypto strategies · Trado Strategy Lab"
description: "Take a backtested strategy to paper trading in one click. The same rules run on live Binance prices; going live is a separate step you approve."
canonical: "https://algo.trado.trade/paper-trading"
lastModified: "2026-10-06"
---

# From backtest to paper trade, without rewriting anything

The cliff between a backtest and a live bot is usually a rewrite. In the Lab the same rules run on paper and live through one runner, so a strategy you tested is the strategy you watch. Paper first, always; live only when you decide.

## The same rules, the same code

A deployment pins a version of your strategy and runs it on the Lab's own runtime. It reads a live Binance kline feed and uses the same decision and position code as the backtest, then turns each decision into a canonical action that an adapter delivers. There is no second implementation to drift away from the first.

## One click to paper

Starting a paper deployment is immediate: choose the strategy, the coins and the settings, and it runs on live prices with no real orders. You can watch its positions and events as they happen, pause it, or stop it. A strategy you backtested with leverage caps ignored is marked as research only and cannot be deployed.

- Paper deployments start at once and never touch an account.
- Positions, actions and events are recorded, so you can compare what happened with what the backtest expected.
- Deployments are charged per active day in credits, and your plan sets how many can exist at once.

## Going live is a separate, deliberate step

Live trading goes through an exchange adapter. You set up the adapter's credentials yourself and approve the live deployment in a signed-in browser session. A personal access token, and therefore any AI agent connected through one, can create and manage paper deployments but cannot approve a live one.

Paper results are evidence, not a guarantee. Real fills, latency and exchange behaviour differ from a simulation, which is one reason to run on paper first and compare it with the backtest before risking money.

## Paper trading questions

### Does paper trading use real money?

No. A paper deployment runs on live prices and records what it would have done. It never places an order on an exchange.

### How long should I paper trade before going live?

That is your decision. Long enough to see the strategy behave in more than one market condition, and to compare its trades with the backtest's. The Lab does not set a number for you.

### Can my AI agent put a strategy live?

No. Live approval needs you, in a browser session. Agents connected with a token can only create and manage paper deployments. See [bring your own AI](https://algo.trado.trade/bring-your-own-ai.md).

## Next steps

- [Join the waitlist](https://algo.trado.trade/waitlist)
- [See pricing](https://algo.trado.trade/pricing)

## Related

- [From backtest to live trading](https://algo.trado.trade/learn/from-backtest-to-live.md): Why strategies break between a backtest and a live bot, and a sane path through paper trading. The Lab runs the same rules in both, so nothing is rewritten.
- [Crypto backtesting after every cost](https://algo.trado.trade/backtesting.md): Backtest crypto perpetuals on years of 1-minute data for 900 coins, after fees, funding, slippage and liquidation, with a verdict that admits weak evidence.
- [Leverage and liquidation guard](https://algo.trado.trade/liquidation-and-leverage.md): At 20×, a move of about 4.5% against you loses the whole margin. The Lab models liquidation, refuses stops past it, and audits the leverage each coin allowed.
- [Bring your own AI via MCP](https://algo.trado.trade/bring-your-own-ai.md): Connect Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT to Trado Strategy Lab over MCP. Your agent builds strategies, runs backtests and reads reports for free; runs use credits.