December 18, 2020
After a few weeks of having demo trading, or probably a month, I finally tried live future trading on Binance. I did demo trading on Bityard but some of my coins are on Binance so I decided to do live trading there. And just like what @Eybyoung said, there are many types of charts and other tools on Binancw that will help you analyze the market's behavior.
And as a beginner in live future trading, I only started at a small amount just to try how it really works and what's the feeling while trading live. But before you start live trade on Binance, there are things that you need to know and of course, make sure that you are ready and know some basics in reading the chart or the technical analysis of the crypto market (as if I know 🤣🤣).
In futures trading, you can partake in market trends and make a profit by taking long or short on a futures contract.
Buy/Long - a trader buys futures with the expectations that the value will rise in the future.
Sell/Short - a trader sells futures to bet on prices to plunge in the future.
Binance Futures offers different future contracts, they are as follows:
To know about Perpetual and Quarterly Futures, you can DYOR (do your own research) as I don't have much knowledge about these and I don't want to try either 😅.
Coin-margined Futures are for professionals so do not try that if you are not knowledgeable enough. In my case, I am using USDT-margined Futures.
There are two types of Margin Modes:
Isolated-Margin Mode - the position and the margin are independent in each trading pair. Only certain crypto can be held or borrowed in a certain isolated margin account. The level is calculated independently based on the asset and debt in the isolated. The risk is also isolated, so during the liquidation, other isolated margins won't be affected.
Cross-Margin Mode - assets in a cross margin account are shared by all positions. The margin level is calculated based on the total asset value and debt in the cross margin account. When liquidation takes place, all positions will be liquidated.
So if you are just a beginner, better use the Isolated Margin Mode to isolate the risk when liquidation takes place. And to know more about cross/isolated trading rules, you can visit Binance by clicking on this link.
So to start future trading;
Register. To start, you need a verified Binance account. In case you don't have one yet, you can use this link to register https://www.binance.cc/en/futures/ref/59307363.
Secure your account. Set up a Two-Authentication Factor to prevent unauthorized access to your account. You can download Google Authenticator then link your Binance account.
Open a Future account. You can do this by just clicking the 'Future' button then click confirm to open a Future account and start live trading.
Fund your account. You need a USDT in live trading and it must be stored in your future wallet. In case your money is in your spot wallet, you can just transfer it to your future wallet.
Pass the quiz. Before you start live trading, Binance will let you watch a video about future trading and will give you sets of questions that you need to answer ALL correctly. I actually failed in my first attempt so I decided to screenshots the correct answers and retake the quiz 🤣. That was cheating lol. I will share the questions and the answers with you later.
Once you've passed the quiz, you can start future trading.
Select the asset you want to trade.
Adjust the leverage level to your preference. (For starters, I advise you to start at a lower leverage. The higher the leverage, the higher the risk. Unless you're a risk-taker.)
Select the Margin Mode (Cross/Isolated).
Select the type of trade you want, if you will going long or short. (If you think the price value will go up, then choose Long, but if you think it will go down, then choose Short.) Be responsible for choosing long/short trade, the success of your trade will be depending on this matter.
Select the order type (Limit, Market, Stop Limit, Stop Market, Trailing Stop). For the usage of these types, you can do your own research, but I chose limit order as a beginner.
Enter your opening price and the amount you want to trade.
Click Buy/Long or Sell/Short
Lastly, set your Take Profit and Stop Loss order.
Related article: Stop-Loss: Set Low or Set High
As mentioned above, here are the questions you need to answer 100%.
What is the maximum leverage available on Binance?
Ans. 125x
Which wallet is not supported for trading on Binance Future?
Ans. Margin wallet
Which of these is not the key difference between USDT-margin futures and coin-margin futures?
Ans. Leverage levelWhat can the maximum loss for trading in a futures contract be?
Ans. 100% of collateralWhich of these is not the key difference between perpetual futures and perpetual futures?
Ans. Trading methodIf a user has open orders or position, which of the following can be done by the user?
Ans. Borrow by using cross collateral functionWhat is the reference price Binance Futures uses to determine if the position should be liquidated?
Ans. Mark priceWhen will a user receive margin calls? When his/her balance is lower than:
Ans. Maintenance marginCan BNB in users' USDT-margin wallets be used as a margin to open a new position?
Ans. No, BNB in users' USDT-margin wallets can only be used to pay commissions.Can unrealized PNL be used as margins to open a new position?
Ans. NoWhich one of the following actions is not recommended during drastic price movement?
Ans. Use market order to get in or get outShould you take up a personal loan to trade futures.
Ans. No, I should trade within my financial means
So how was my first live future trading experience?
3 days ago, I started to conduct live trading on Binance using their Coin-Margined Future contract. I've got $11 from the small coins I have converted to BNB and sold BNB to USDT. I started with a $5 margin and every time I gain profit, I increased it to $6,$7,$10 and my last trading margin was $18. As of today, I have a total of 13 future trades on Binance. Here are some of my successful trades with small profits 😅.
And out of 13, I've got 1 trade loss.
My feeling was actually mixed while doing the live future trading. I felt happy every time I saw green unrealized PNL, at the same time I felt nervous when the market goes against my prediction. Seeing a huge negative unrealized PNL like -67% was heartbreaking, however, I didn't lose hope, I still trusted my prediction and waited patiently. It is as if I trade a huge amount of money 🤣.
I always used Isolated margin mode because I don't want my other position to be affected when liquidation happens. And another thing I did in trading, which I guess is different from other new trader like @Eybyoung @bmjc98 I did not set my 'Take Profit' and 'Stop-Loss' during my first two days of trading. Why? Because I don't want to get a loss profit once it triggers the percentage of SL you have set. When you set up a 5% Stop-Loss, your trade will be closed once it reaches -5% SL, thus losing -5% of your margin.
Related article: Stop-Loss: Set Low or Set High
Like what I've said earlier, the market is so volatile as always, it goes up and down in just a matter of seconds. The reason why I did not set a Stop-Loss order is that I want to monitor my trade and close it right away once I reached the amount of profit I want, especially when I feel like it will really go against my prediction. I better take a small profit than losing all my margin. And yesterday, I tried to set 'Take Profit' but no 'Stop-Loss'. This is actually risky not setting a Stop-Loss so I don't recommend this strategy to you. But luckily, all my trade was successful especially that the market was really doing good yesterday.
The reason that I have 1 trade loss because I was busy that day and wasn't able to monitor my trade well. So for those who don't have enough time to monitor their trade, you can set 'Stop-Loss' and 'Take Profit'. So far, I've gained $9+ in live trading and almost doubled my small capital. From the $11 fund in my future wallet, I now have $20+.
Not that bad, it was just a TRY for me. I just want to know how the live future trading works and the feeling of being on live trading. And what I can only say is, the market is really so unpredictable and I still need to know many things about future trading.
What I can advise to those who are following my trading journey and those who want to try live future trading:
Get enough knowledge about the technical analysis of the market. This is the key to successful live trading.
Have a lot of patience when doing live trading. I admit that there were times that I want to close my trade already especially when seeing a huge negative unrealized PNL, but I just waited until it goes along with my prediction.
Do not panic once you see a red unrealized PNL. Just like what I've said, wait patiently until it becomes green.
Take a small profit than losing all your trade. Do not be greedy, it's better to have a few cents than nothing. You are just starting anyway.
Always monitor your trade. Let's say you have set your TP&SL, but you still need to check it from time to time. Why?
For example, you trade Buy/Long and your TP is $250, then the market rapidly increases. You can still increase that TP to gain more profit. On the other hand, if it is really going against your prediction and you think you will be losing your trade, you can adjust the risk level by reducing your position (adjust the leverage level) or transfer some assets to your future account. Binance will always send you a Liquidation Call when your position reaches -80%.
Those might be my winning days, but we don't know what will happen tomorrow. So better learn more and practice more. It takes a lot of time, knowledge, and PATIENCE to become a successful trader. And I guess, I should include this in my Trading Journal. 😊
Related Article: Why Trading Journal Is Important For A Successful Trading Journey
Thanks for reading @Jane
I'm gonna save this too and read it again while i watch vids over the holidays 👉👈 my progress is slow