// MECHANICAL TRADING

PAPER FIRST.
LIVE WHEN READY.

Tradedesk runs mechanical crypto strategies — Dollar-Cost Averaging and Portfolio Rebalancing — via the Alpaca API. Every strategy starts in paper mode. A 12-guardrail safety chain checks every signal before an order is placed. Promotion to live trading requires a comprehension check, a PIN, and a mandatory 30-second countdown you cannot skip. The kill switch is always one click away.

Launch App Learn More
2
Strategy Types
12
Guardrail Checks
3
Stage Gates
25
Learn Articles
// HOW IT WORKS

From Paper Strategy to Live Trading in 6 Steps

Tradedesk is designed to slow you down before real money moves. Every step from strategy creation to live promotion requires deliberate action.

01
Create a Strategy
Choose DCA or Portfolio Rebalance. Set your coin, schedule, and notional amount. The strategy is created in Stage 1 paper mode — no exceptions.
02
Daemon Executes on Schedule
The background daemon runs at 08:00 UTC on your configured schedule, generating signals and passing them through the 12-step guardrail chain.
03
Guardrails Check Every Signal
All 12 guardrails must pass before any order reaches Alpaca. Kill switch, feed staleness, circuit breaker, buying power, and 8 more checks run in sequence.
04
30 Days on Paper
A minimum of 30 calendar days in paper mode is required before Stage 2 promotion is available. Track simulated fills and P&L in the meantime.
05
Promotion Ceremony
Promoting to live trading requires an 8-step ceremony: comprehension check, PIN, name confirmation, and a 30-second server-enforced countdown.
06
Live Trading — Kill Switch Always On
Stage 2 caps orders at $100/trade. Stage 3 uses your configured notional. The kill switch is on every screen and halts all activity in one click.

Command Center

The dashboard gives you a live view of your trading system. A persistent kill switch bar at the top lets you halt all activity in one click from any screen. Six stat tiles show open strategies, active positions, today's realized P&L, unrealized P&L, daemon heartbeat age, and current stage. Below that, your strategy cards show each strategy's coin, schedule, current stage badge, and last signal. A recent activity log surfaces fill events, guardrail rejections, and stage transitions.

meltuc.tech/tradedesk/app/
● DAEMON RUNNING — Heartbeat 12s ago ENGAGE KILL SWITCH
2
Strategies
3
Positions
+$4.20
Today P&L
+$12.80
Unrealized
12s
Heartbeat
S1
Stage
BTC DCA Weekly Stage 1
BTC/USD · $50/trade · Weekly
Last signal: Mon 08:00 UTC · Filled $50.00
Crypto Rebalance Stage 1
BTC 50% / ETH 30% / USDC 20% · Weekly
Last check: Sun 08:00 UTC · Within drift threshold
Recent Activity
10:02 UTCBTC/USD FILL — 0.000522 BTC @ $95,780 ($50.00)
10:01 UTCBTC DCA Weekly — signal generated, guardrail chain passed (12/12)
08:00 UTCRebalance check — BTC 51.2% vs target 50% — within 10% drift threshold

Strategy Management

The strategies page lists every strategy with its current stage, running status, coin, schedule, and lifetime P&L. Pause and resume controls are available per strategy. Clicking a strategy opens its detail view — a full trade history, P&L chart, FIFO lot breakdown, guardrail event log, and the Promote to Stage 2 button (greyed out until all eligibility criteria are met). New strategies start in Stage 1 paper mode — no configuration can bypass this.

meltuc.tech/tradedesk/strategies/
STRATEGIES (2) + New Strategy
Name Type Stage Status Lifetime P&L Actions
BTC DCA Weekly crypto_dca S1 Paper Running +$14.20 Pause · View
Crypto Rebalance crypto_rebalance S1 Paper Running $0.00 Pause · View

8-Step Promotion Ceremony

Promoting a strategy from Stage 1 (paper) to Stage 2 (live) requires completing an 8-step ceremony. You must pass a comprehension check with randomly selected questions about how your strategy type works. You must enter your trading PIN (bcrypt-hashed, 3-failure lockout). You must type the strategy name followed by LIVE to confirm. Finally, a 30-second countdown enforced server-side via HMAC token prevents impulsive promotion — the button cannot be clicked until the full 30 seconds elapses.

meltuc.tech/tradedesk/strategies/<id>/promote-ceremony/
Promotion Ceremony — BTC DCA Weekly Step 5 of 8
Step 5 — Comprehension Check
What is the Stage 2 notional cap per trade for a promoted DCA strategy?
A. $50 per trade
B. $100 per trade
C. $250 per trade
D. No cap — configured notional applies directly
28
Step 8 of 8 will require a 30-second countdown enforced by the server. The confirm button cannot be clicked until it completes.

Guardrail Configuration

Every signal passes through a 12-step guardrail chain before an order reaches the broker. Any guardrail can veto the order — it does not proceed until the full chain passes. The guardrails page shows each check's current status, threshold, and last trigger event. You can adjust thresholds within safe ranges. The circuit breaker engages automatically after 15 rejections in 60 minutes and must be manually reset.

meltuc.tech/tradedesk/guardrails/
Guardrail Chain — 12 Active
# Guardrail Threshold / Rule Status Last Triggered
1 Kill Switch Engaged = halt all Pass Never
2 Feed Staleness Price data < 30s old Pass 3 days ago
3 Circuit Breaker <15 rejects / 60 min Pass Never
4 Daily Loss Limit Loss < 5% equity Pass Never
5 Buying Power Cash ≥ notional + fees Pass Never
6 Price Sanity Price within 5% of feed Pass Never
+ 6 more guardrails (duplicate order, volatility blackout, max open orders, position concentration, stage check, rebalance drift)

Alert Inbox

The inbox collects every system notification — fill confirmations, guardrail rejections, kill switch events, stage transitions, and daemon restart alerts. Notifications are routed by severity: kill/loss/restart events trigger SMS and email; WebSocket and drift events go to email only; routine guardrail and fill events stay in-app. Quiet hours are respected. An unread badge in the sidebar keeps count.

meltuc.tech/tradedesk/inbox/
Alerts (3) Activity
Mark all read
Fill Confirmed — BTC/USD 10:02 UTC
0.000522 BTC purchased @ $95,780 · Total $50.00 · BTC DCA Weekly
Stage 1 Eligibility Reached Yesterday
BTC DCA Weekly has now run 30 paper days. Stage 2 promotion is available.
Daemon Restarted 2 days ago
Daemon restarted cleanly after scheduled maintenance window.
// STAGE SYSTEM

Paper First. Always.

Every strategy begins in Stage 1 paper mode. No configuration, no override, and no shortcut can place a real order before the stage gate is passed. The gate is there to create time — time to observe, time to question, and time to change your mind before real capital is at risk.

S1
Paper
Alpaca paper trading. Simulated fills. No real money. Minimum 30 days before promotion is available.
S2
Live — Capped
Real money. Hard $100/trade cap enforced pre-guardrail. Requires comprehension check + PIN + 30s ceremony.
S3
Live — Full
Real money. Configured notional applies directly (default $500/trade cap). Second promotion ceremony required.
30-Day Minimum
A strategy must run in paper mode for at least 30 calendar days before the promotion button is enabled. This cannot be shortened.
Comprehension Check
3 questions randomly selected from a 7-question bank specific to your strategy type. A wrong answer locks promotion for 1 hour.
Server-Side Countdown
The 30-second countdown is enforced by an HMAC-signed server token. The client timer is visual only — clicking early returns an error.
Kill Switch Always Present
The kill switch bar appears on every screen at every stage. One click halts all strategies and pauses the daemon. Recovery requires a 5-step ceremony.
// GUARDRAIL CHAIN

12 Checks Before Every Order

Every signal generated by a strategy passes through a sequential guardrail chain. All 12 checks must pass. Any single failure vetoes the order — nothing is placed, the event is logged, and the circuit breaker's rejection counter increments. The chain runs identically in paper and live mode.

Kill Switch
First check. If engaged, all signals are halted immediately regardless of other state.
Feed Staleness
Price data must be less than 30 seconds old. Rejects orders when the WebSocket feed has dropped.
Circuit Breaker
Engages after 15 guardrail rejections within any 60-minute window. Must be manually reset.
Daily Loss Limit
Rejects all signals if realized losses exceed 5% of account equity on the current calendar day.
Buying Power
Available cash must cover the full notional plus estimated fees before any buy order is placed.
Duplicate Order
Prevents placing the same signal twice within a configurable cooldown window (default 4 hours).
Price Sanity
Rejects orders where the quoted price differs from the feed price by more than 5%.
Volatility Blackout
Suspends trading during extreme volatility windows defined by configurable price-range thresholds.
Max Open Orders
Limits concurrent open orders to prevent order pile-ups during connectivity issues.
Position Concentration
Blocks orders that would push a single asset above the configured maximum portfolio weight.
Stage Check
Enforces the stage-appropriate order cap: $100/trade hard cap for Stage 2, config cap for Stage 3.
Rebalance Drift
For rebalance strategies: verifies actual allocation drift meets the configured threshold before trading.
// STRATEGY TYPES

Two Mechanical Strategies

Tradedesk currently supports two strategy types. Both are fully mechanical — no AI, no prediction, no discretionary overrides. The daemon executes them on schedule and the guardrail chain handles the rest.

🔁
Dollar-Cost Averaging
Buys a fixed dollar amount of a single crypto asset on a regular schedule — daily, every 2 days, every 3 days, weekly, or biweekly — at 08:00 UTC. The purchase amount, coin, and schedule are set at creation and do not change. FIFO lot tracking records the cost basis of every buy for accurate P&L and tax export.
BTC/USD ETH/USD LTC/USD BCH/USD $5–$500/trade
⚖️
Portfolio Rebalance
Maintains a target allocation across up to five assets (BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, USDC). On each check (daily, weekly, or monthly), it measures actual allocation against target. If any asset has drifted beyond the configured threshold (default 10%), it rebalances — selling overweight positions before buying underweight ones to free cash first.
BTC/USD ETH/USD LTC/USD BCH/USD USDC/USD 3–20% drift
// WHAT YOU GET

Everything You Need to Trade Mechanically and Safely

Tradedesk gives you structured strategies, safety guardrails, and a forced discipline that prevents impulsive decisions from reaching the market.

🔁
DCA Strategy
Buy a fixed dollar amount of crypto on a regular schedule — daily to biweekly. FIFO lot tracking records cost basis of every buy for P&L and tax export.
⚖️
Portfolio Rebalance
Maintain a target allocation across up to five assets. When any asset drifts beyond your threshold, the daemon rebalances by selling first to free cash.
🛡️
12-Guardrail Chain
Every signal passes through kill switch, feed staleness, circuit breaker, daily loss limit, buying power, price sanity, and six more checks before any order is placed.
🔴
Kill Switch
Present on every screen at every stage. One click halts all strategies and pauses the daemon. Recovery requires a separate 5-step ceremony to resume.
🎓
Promotion Ceremony
Comprehension check, PIN, name confirmation, and a 30-second server-enforced countdown before any strategy reaches live trading. No shortcuts.
📬
Alert Inbox
Fill confirmations, guardrail rejections, stage transitions, and daemon alerts routed by severity — SMS and email for critical events, in-app for routine ones.
📖
Learn Library
25 articles covering strategy mechanics, guardrail logic, promotion criteria, and risk concepts — integrated into the app to build understanding alongside practice.
📊
Backtesting & P&L Analysis
Simulate a strategy against historical price bars, then track real performance with a time-series P&L API — cumulative returns, max drawdown, and win rate over any window up to a year.
💓
Daemon Health Monitor
A localhost heartbeat feed reports daemon liveness in real time — ok, stale, or dead — so you always know whether your strategies are actually executing.
// GET STARTED

Build the Discipline First.

Start with a DCA strategy on paper. Watch it run for 30 days. Then decide if you trust it enough to promote.

Launch Tradedesk

Requires a MelTuc account. Create one free.  ·  Automated trading does not guarantee returns. Crypto assets are highly volatile.