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Cryptos Strategy

Overview

The Cryptos Strategy is a high-level StockSharp port of the original MetaTrader4 expert advisor cryptos.mq4. It focuses on the ETH/USD pair, combining Bollinger Bands with a linear weighted moving average (LWMA) to capture breakouts from volatility compression. The strategy tracks swing highs and lows across a configurable number of candles and dynamically calculates take-profit targets as a multiple of the detected range.

Trading Logic

  1. Trend detection – when the close price touches the upper Bollinger band the strategy switches into a short bias, and when the lower band is touched it switches into a long bias. The band touch also freezes the current swing values by disabling automatic high/low updates.
  2. Entry conditions –
    • Open a short position when the close price falls below the LWMA, the bias is short, and there is no active short position.
    • Open a long position when the close price rises above the LWMA, the bias is long, and there is no active long position.
  3. Range projection – swing highs and lows (either automatic or manually frozen) define the distance from the LWMA. This distance, expressed in ticks, is multiplied by the take-profit ratio to compute profit targets and the risk-based position size.
  4. Risk control – the strategy sets per-trade take-profit and stop-loss levels. For longs, the stop is placed below the swing low; for shorts, above the swing high. Stops and targets are recalculated for each entry and enforced inside the strategy loop.
  5. Trailing exits – if a long position closes below the lower Bollinger band (or a short above the upper band), the open position is flattened immediately, mimicking the trailing behaviour of the original EA.

Parameters

Parameter Description
CandleType Data type of the candle series used for all indicator calculations.
BollingerPeriod, BollingerWidth Length and standard deviation multiplier of the Bollinger Bands.
MaPeriod Period of the linear weighted moving average based on median prices.
LookbackCandles Number of candles examined to determine the automatic swing high/low.
TakeProfitRatio Range multiplier used for profit targets when trading ETH/USD.
AlternativeTakeProfitRatio Range multiplier applied to all other symbols.
RiskPerTrade Amount of capital (in quote currency) that the volume calculator tries to risk on each trade.
ValueIndex, CryptoValueIndex Multipliers converting risk into volume for non-crypto and crypto symbols respectively.
MinVolume, MaxVolume Hard bounds for position size after alignment to exchange volume steps.
MinRangeTicks Minimum allowed projected range in ticks to avoid zero-distance stops.
SpreadPoints Manual override of the spread in ticks (auto-detected from best bid/ask if available).
GlobalTrend Manual bias override: 1 forces a short setup, 2 forces a long setup, 0 lets the strategy decide.
AutoHighLow When enabled, swing points are recalculated on every candle; when disabled they are frozen until the next band touch.
ManualBuyTrigger, ManualSellTrigger Set to true to request an immediate long or short entry (reset after execution).
SkipBuys, SkipSells Disable opening new long or short positions.

Position Sizing

The strategy replicates the MT4 logic: volume = RiskPerTrade / rangeTicks * valueIndex. The result is aligned to VolumeStep, then clipped between MinVolume/MaxVolume and the instrument’s exchange-imposed limits.

Usage Notes

  • The strategy checks portfolio value on start. If the balance is lower than RiskPerTrade * 3, trading is disabled and a warning is logged, matching the EA’s safety check.
  • Manual triggers and bias controls make it possible to synchronise with discretionary decisions during live trading.
  • ETH/USD automatically uses CryptoValueIndex and TakeProfitRatio; other instruments fall back to the alternative parameters.
  • Stops and targets are enforced within the strategy loop, so no additional protection module is required.
using System;

using Ecng.Common;

using StockSharp.Algo.Indicators;
using StockSharp.Algo.Strategies;
using StockSharp.BusinessEntities;
using StockSharp.Messages;

namespace StockSharp.Samples.Strategies;

/// <summary>
/// Simplified from "Cryptos" MetaTrader expert.
/// Uses Bollinger Bands with a WMA trend filter. Buys when price is below WMA
/// and touches lower band; sells when price is above WMA and touches upper band.
/// </summary>
public class CryptosStrategy : Strategy
{
	private readonly StrategyParam<DataType> _candleType;
	private readonly StrategyParam<int> _wmaPeriod;
	private readonly StrategyParam<int> _bollingerPeriod;
	private readonly StrategyParam<decimal> _bollingerWidth;

	private ExponentialMovingAverage _bandEma;
	private ExponentialMovingAverage _trendEma;

	public DataType CandleType
	{
		get => _candleType.Value;
		set => _candleType.Value = value;
	}

	public int WmaPeriod
	{
		get => _wmaPeriod.Value;
		set => _wmaPeriod.Value = value;
	}

	public int BollingerPeriod
	{
		get => _bollingerPeriod.Value;
		set => _bollingerPeriod.Value = value;
	}

	public decimal BollingerWidth
	{
		get => _bollingerWidth.Value;
		set => _bollingerWidth.Value = value;
	}

	public CryptosStrategy()
	{
		_candleType = Param(nameof(CandleType), TimeSpan.FromMinutes(60).TimeFrame())
			.SetDisplay("Candle Type", "Timeframe for signals", "General");

		_wmaPeriod = Param(nameof(WmaPeriod), 55)
			.SetGreaterThanZero()
			.SetDisplay("WMA Period", "Weighted moving average period", "Indicators");

		_bollingerPeriod = Param(nameof(BollingerPeriod), 20)
			.SetGreaterThanZero()
			.SetDisplay("BB Period", "Bollinger Bands period", "Indicators");

		_bollingerWidth = Param(nameof(BollingerWidth), 2m)
			.SetGreaterThanZero()
			.SetDisplay("BB Width", "Bollinger Bands deviation", "Indicators");
	}

	protected override void OnStarted2(DateTime time)
	{
		base.OnStarted2(time);

		_bandEma = new ExponentialMovingAverage { Length = BollingerPeriod };
		_trendEma = new ExponentialMovingAverage { Length = WmaPeriod };

		var subscription = SubscribeCandles(CandleType);
		subscription
			.Bind(_bandEma, _trendEma, ProcessCandle)
			.Start();

		var area = CreateChartArea();
		if (area != null)
		{
			DrawCandles(area, subscription);
			DrawIndicator(area, _bandEma);
			DrawIndicator(area, _trendEma);
			DrawOwnTrades(area);
		}
	}

	private void ProcessCandle(ICandleMessage candle, decimal bandValue, decimal trendValue)
	{
		if (candle.State != CandleStates.Finished)
			return;

		if (!_bandEma.IsFormed || !_trendEma.IsFormed)
			return;

		var close = candle.ClosePrice;
		var bandOffset = bandValue * (BollingerWidth / 100m);
		var upperBand = bandValue + bandOffset;
		var lowerBand = bandValue - bandOffset;

		var volume = Volume;
		if (volume <= 0)
			volume = 1;

		// Buy: price below WMA, touches lower band
		if (close < trendValue && close <= lowerBand)
		{
			if (Position <= 0)
				BuyMarket(Position < 0 ? Math.Abs(Position) + volume : volume);
		}
		// Sell: price above WMA, touches upper band
		else if (close > trendValue && close >= upperBand)
		{
			if (Position >= 0)
				SellMarket(Position > 0 ? Math.Abs(Position) + volume : volume);
		}

		// Exit at WMA cross
		if (Position > 0 && close >= upperBand)
			SellMarket(Position);
		else if (Position < 0 && close <= lowerBand)
			BuyMarket(Math.Abs(Position));
	}

	/// <inheritdoc />
	protected override void OnReseted()
	{
		_bandEma = null;
		_trendEma = null;

		base.OnReseted();
	}
}