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Your First Trading Bot

Follow this comprehensive guide to set up, configure, and deploy your first automated trading bot safely and effectively.

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Choosing Your First Strategy

For beginners, we recommend starting with these low-risk strategies:

DCA Bot

Best for: Long-term accumulation
  • Regular purchases regardless of price
  • Reduces average cost over time
  • Simple, set-and-forget approach

Smart Portfolio Rebalancer

Best for: Portfolio maintenance
  • Maintains target asset allocation
  • Automatically rebalances on price movements
  • Diversification benefits
Both strategies are conservative and perfect for learning how Nimbus works before moving to more advanced strategies.

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Setting Up a DCA Bot

Let’s walk through creating a Dollar-Cost Averaging bot step by step.

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Step 1: Strategy Selection

  1. Go to Dashboard → Create New Bot
  2. Select “DCA Bot” from the strategy list
  3. Choose your trading pair (recommended: ETH/USDC for beginners)

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Step 2: Basic Configuration

Configure how much and how often to invest:
  • Investment Amount: $25 per purchase (start small)
  • Purchase Frequency: Every 7 days (weekly)
  • Total Budget: $500 (20 weeks of purchasing)
  • Asset: ETH (or your preferred asset)
Set when your bot should trade:
  • Start Date: Tomorrow (gives you time to review)
  • Purchase Time: 12:00 PM UTC (during active trading)
  • End Condition: After 20 purchases or manual stop
  • Weekend Trading: Disabled (optional)

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Step 3: Risk Management

Essential risk controls for your first bot:
  • Maximum Single Purchase: $50 (prevents large accidental buys)
  • Price Deviation Limit: 5% (skip purchase if price moved >5% since last check)
  • Slippage Tolerance: 0.5% (maximum acceptable slippage)
  • Emergency Stop: Enabled (pause on 10% daily portfolio loss)
Stay informed about your bot’s activity:
  • Email Notifications: Enabled for all purchases
  • Discord Alerts: Optional webhook integration
  • Daily Summary: Enabled
  • Error Alerts: Enabled (important for troubleshooting)

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Step 4: Review and Deploy

Before launching, carefully review your configuration: 
DCA Bot Configuration Summary:
├── Asset: ETH/USDC
├── Amount: $25 every 7 days
├── Total Budget: $500 (20 purchases)
├── Safety Features:
│   ├── Max single purchase: $50
│   ├── Price deviation limit: 5%
│   └── Emergency stop: Enabled
└── Start Date: Tomorrow 12:00 PM UTC
Click “Deploy Bot” to start automated trading!

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Alternative: Smart Portfolio Rebalancer

If you prefer portfolio rebalancing, here’s a quick setup:
Set your target portfolio composition:Conservative Portfolio:
  • 60% ETH
  • 30% BTC
  • 10% USDC
Moderate Portfolio:
  • 40% ETH
  • 40% BTC
  • 20% Altcoins (SOL, ARB, etc.)
Configure when rebalancing occurs:
  • Threshold: 5% deviation from target
  • Minimum Interval: 24 hours between rebalances
  • Transaction Size: Minimum $10 per trade
  • Rebalancing Hours: 9 AM - 5 PM UTC only

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Monitoring Your Bot

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Real-Time Dashboard

Monitor your bot’s performance from the main dashboard:
  • Current Status: Active/Paused/Error
  • Total Invested: Running total of investments
  • Average Buy Price: Your cost basis
  • Unrealized P&L: Current profit/loss
  • Next Action: When the next purchase will occur

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Performance Metrics

Track key metrics to evaluate your bot:

ROI

Return on investment compared to lump-sum purchase

Sharpe Ratio

Risk-adjusted returns vs volatility

Max Drawdown

Largest loss from peak performance

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Weekly Review Process

Every week, review your bot’s performance:
  1. Check purchase history: Verify all trades executed correctly
  2. Analyze average cost: Compare to current market price
  3. Review risk metrics: Ensure within acceptable limits
  4. Adjust if needed: Modify frequency or amount based on results

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Common First Bot Mistakes

Avoid These Beginner Mistakes:
  • Starting too large: Begin with amounts you’re comfortable losing
  • Ignoring fees: Factor in transaction costs to your calculations
  • No stop conditions: Always set maximum loss limits
  • Emotional interference: Let the bot run according to plan
  • Poor timing: Don’t start during extreme market conditions

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Troubleshooting Your First Bot

Common causes:
  • Insufficient balance for minimum trade
  • API connection issues
  • Invalid configuration parameters
Solutions:
  • Check account balance and deposit if needed
  • Test API connection in settings
  • Review all configuration values
Common causes:
  • Risk limits triggered
  • Market conditions outside parameters
  • Technical issues with exchange
Solutions:
  • Check risk management logs
  • Review market volatility settings
  • Verify exchange status and connectivity

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Next Steps After Your First Bot

Once your bot is running successfully:

Advanced Strategies

Explore grid trading and martingale strategies.

Portfolio Analytics

Dive deeper into performance analysis.

Trading Wizard

Get AI-powered strategy recommendations.

Strategy Marketplace

Discover community-created strategies.
Start small, learn from each bot, and gradually increase complexity as you gain experience with automated trading.
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