The first-grid-setup problem

If you've never thrown a grid bot into the backtest, you know the problem: you have to specify range, grid count, and grid type. What do you put in? If the range is too tight (e.g. ±5% around current price), the bot leaves the corridor in the first days and does nothing. If the range is too wide (e.g. ±50%), grid levels are so far apart that barely any trades happen.

The honest answer: nobody "knows" this from the gut. Not KuCoin, not Pionex either. They suggest a default based on 7-day volatility with a buffer. We do the same now.

How our auto mode works

You enter three things: pair, investment, backtest period (start + end date). The calculator then pulls the last 7 days of 15-min candles before your backtest start date and computes:

1. Range = current price ± max(10%, 7d range × 0.6). Minimum buffer 10% even in very calm periods, so the bot doesn't fall out of range immediately. Otherwise scales with actual 7d span.
2. Grid count by annualized realized volatility:
   • σ < 0.30 (calm, e.g. stable pair): 20 grids
   • σ 0.30 – 0.50 (medium, e.g. BTC): 30 grids
   • σ 0.50 – 0.80 (volatile, e.g. SOL): 40 grids
   • σ > 0.80 (extreme, e.g. memecoins): 50 grids
3. Grid type: arithmetic (KuCoin default).
4. Profit/grid output as min..max range (more profit per round-trip at the bottom than at the top, since fixed USDT interval).

Plus a short rationale: "Based on 7-day volatility (X% range, σ Y% p.a.)".

You click "✓ Use these" and the backtest runs immediately with the suggested values plus your investment amount and period. Or click "✎ Edit manually" — the whole setup flies into the custom tab where you can adjust each value.

The key detail: anchor at backtest start

We had a bug here we almost missed. First version always computed the suggestion based on today — even if your backtest period was 6 months ago. Result: BTC price at backtest start was often outside the "suggested range" (because the price had moved since then) → backtest threw a validation error immediately.

Fix: the suggestion is now anchored at the backtest start date. 7 days of 15-min candles before the start, not before today. That way the range matches the actual entry price, no matter how far in the past the backtest sits.

Honesty: we should have caught this before release. Was typical "today-centric thinking" — for a live bot, the today anchor is right; for a historical backtest, not. Fixed in the hour after the first bug report.

What auto mode is NOT

We're not selling this as magic. Three clear disclaimers:

1. It's a me-too feature. KuCoin and Pionex have very similar auto suggestions. Our differentiator isn't the suggestion logic — it's the backtest engine underneath that shows you what the suggestion would have delivered historically. With KuCoin you have to run the bot live to see if it works.
2. It's not "the optimal range". 7-day volatility is a sensible heuristic, but it's cycle-blind. If BTC is in an accumulation phase and you set a range based on 7 days of sideways, the range will be off as soon as the cycle turns.
3. Phase 3 will be the actual differentiator. We're working on a Smart Range Finder that uses our cycle score data + 7+ years of backtest corpus to make range suggestions with cycle awareness and risk profiles. Phase 3 launches when we have enough saved backtests for calibration — earliest 2027.

What you do with it today

Three steps:

1. Go to /dashboard/grid. Auto mode is the new default tab at top.
2. Pick pair (BTCUSDT or ETHUSDT for Free, all crypto pairs for Pro+), enter investment and period. The suggestion updates live.
3. "✓ Use these" → backtest runs immediately. Or "✎ Edit manually" → custom tab with pre-fill and you tune from there.

If you've never done a grid backtest: this is now the fastest entry. Free works for BTCUSDT and ETHUSDT, no account required.

Takeaways

• Auto mode for grid backtest is live: pair + investment + period → range + grid count automatic.
• KuCoin-style heuristic: 7d volatility anchored at your backtest start date (not today), minimum buffer 10%.
• "Edit manually" flips the suggestion into the custom tab with pre-fill.
• Free: BTCUSDT + ETHUSDT. Pro+: all crypto pairs.
• Phase 3 (Smart Range Finder) is coming — cycle-aware instead of just 7-day volatility — once we have enough backtest data for calibration.

Direct link to grid backtest →