Research notes
Studies of transaction costs, funding, drawdowns, exposure and execution, carried out before and after the demo and paper accounts started. Backtest results in these notes are hypothetical and labelled as such.
| No. | Note | Finding | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Funding costs, 2021–2026Binance's historical funding rates applied to every position the backtest held, January 2021 to September 2026. | CAGR 45.7% → 41.8% after funding (−3.9 pts a year) | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 02 | Transaction-cost sensitivityThe backtest re-run at six cost levels, from 0% to 0.25% per unit traded, with every order counted by type. | ≈ 0.65 pt of CAGR per basis point of cost | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 03 | Drawdowns deeper than 8%, 2021–2026Every peak-to-trough decline deeper than 8% in the backtest, with its depth, duration and recovery. | 12 drawdowns deeper than 8%; longest time under water 241 days | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 04 | Gross exposure vs venue leverageGross and net exposure as a multiple of equity, recorded at every 4-hour decision in the backtest, set against the 5× leverage allowed on the venue. | Gross exposure 0.30× on average and 1.02× at peak, with 5× available | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 05 | Long-only vs long/shortThe same rules run long-only, short-only and long/short from January 2021 to September 2026, with identical signals, risk limits and costs. | Short side adds about 10 points of CAGR, nearly all in 2022 | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 06 | Minimum account size for copying on BinanceEach of the 3,944 backtest orders checked against Binance's minimum order values, for copy accounts of $100 to $5,000. | Practical floor $1,000; close tracking from $2,500 | 29 Sep 2026 |
| 07 | Maker orders on entries and exitsFill quality of maker-first orders on entries and on exits, from two days of Binance Demo Trading fills. | Exits: 0% maker fills; 9–22 bps slippage vs ≈ 2 bps fee saved | 29 Sep 2026 |