Any trading plan covers setups, size, exits and limits. Why you need a trading plan covers that core. A plan written for stocks also leans on things it never states, because the market states them: when the day starts, when it ends, when positions are marked. A crypto plan has to say all of it.
Hours and weekends
Write the hours you trade and the hours you do not. Without this section the answer is all of them. The hours should fit your own day and should favor times when the market is deep. A plan that says nothing about hours has left its largest risk control to mood.
Say whether you trade weekends at all. If you do, state how size, order type and leverage change. The weekend book is thinner, and a plan that treats Saturday like Tuesday is silently taking more risk for two days a week. Weekend rules for a crypto trader lists what to decide.
Positions you are not watching
State what may be held while you are asleep or away, at what size, and with what protection. In a session market this is the overnight rule, and it applies once a day. In crypto it applies for most of every position’s life. Sizing a position you cannot watch covers the sizing side.
Limits that need a clock
A daily loss limit assumes a day. Define one. The same goes for a maximum number of trades. Without a defined period, a limit can be reset whenever it becomes inconvenient. A daily loss limit needs a day covers how to draw the line.
Cost and leverage
State the round-trip cost you assume for each coin you trade, and the smallest expected move you will trade for. Costs differ widely between coins, so one assumption for all of them is wrong for most of them. If you hold perps, add funding as a holding cost.
Write a maximum leverage of your own, lower than the venue’s, and the rule that the stop sits nearer than the liquidation price. The venue’s maximum is a ceiling for its purposes. The plan’s maximum is for yours.
Venue and custody
Note where each position is held and what would stop you reaching it. An outage, a withdrawal pause or a congested network can each block an exit. A plan cannot prevent these. It can limit how much sits in any one place.
Keep it short enough to follow
A plan that runs to many pages is not read at the moment it is needed. One page is enough, with each rule stated so that it is plain whether it was kept or broken. Vague rules cannot be reviewed.
For the cost section, the NoVo Crypto Market Map ranks what a round trip costs on each coin from Robinhood’s own disclosed markup. It supplies a figure. The plan, and every decision in it, belongs to the trader.