Coinrule Review: Pros, Cons and Alternatives

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Coinrule is a cryptocurrency trading platform designed to help automate trades on exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken and Binance. 

In this Coinrule Review we’ll take a deep dive into the platform and cover:

• What Coinrule offers to both beginner and expert-level traders.
• How the software works, with video walkthroughs of what’s inside.
• The safety risks of trading using Coinrule and similar trading bots.
• How it compares to alternatives like Cryptohopper and Shrimpy.

4/5

Coinrule is a crypto trading platform that allows you to create your own automated trading rules, or follow 200+ templated strategies without having to use code. Coinrule syncs directly with most of the top centralized exchanges, so when the rules you define are met, trades execute automatically. If you're a beginner, you can paper trade without risking capital. Advanced traders — especially those who trade on multiple exchanges — benefit from the ability to execute trades within a single dashboard.

Pros:

• No trading fees (charges a flat monthly rate).
• Free account to paper trade, backtest and make a limited amount of trades.
• Doesn't access private keys.
• Mobile app for on-the-go trading.

Cons:

• Trades only on centralized exchanges.
• No connections with Gemini

Visit Coinrule

Coinrule at a Glance

Quantitative developers write code, mainly for hedge funds, to automate trading strategies. The job itself requires advanced knowledge in mathematics, statistical models and algorithms. 

Prior to the emergence of web applications like Coinrule, you needed these skills if you wanted to trade like a hedge fund or a professional algo trader.

Coinrule changed that dynamic by allowing anyone with little more than an internet connection to engage in automated crypto trading.

The platform is unique in that it’s made for both beginners and advanced traders.

To get a sense of how Coinrule works, here’s a brief rundown of my experience.

Upon signing up (which required only my email address), Coinrule asked me to:

1. State my trading experience. You’re given the ability to select beginner, intermediate or expert (I choose intermediate).
2. Select my preferred coins. You can choose multiple coins (I chose just ETH).

Next, Coinrule recommended three strategies:

1. Low Volatility Buy & Sell. A long-term strategy to buy coins before potential breakouts.
2. Golden Cross Trading. A technical trading strategy that rewards you when the short-term moving average crosses above or below a long-term moving average (bullish or bearish respectively).
3. Maximized Scalping. A high-frequency trading strategy that executes trades with the highest possible win rate, with the idea being that small wins add up.

I chose Low Volatility Buy & Sell, as this aligns more with my own history of holding assets long-term. 

After making this selection, I had the opportunity to customize variables within the strategy — e.g., to use a 20-day moving average or a 50-day moving average. The photo below provides an example of how you make selections within the rule creation screen.

Next, Coinrule developed an “If This Than That” rule (also known as IFTTT), based on the strategy itself.

Once I connected my account to one of the available exchanges (such as Coinbase), this trading strategy would operate automatically when conditions are met.

Coinrule Templated Strategies

Part of what makes Coinrule feasible for beginners is its templated strategies. These strategies can be implemented with a few clicks and executed on your favorite coins across exchanges.

Upon publication, there were 190 different trading strategies available, as demonstrated in the video below:

Coinrule Custom Trading Strategies

Beyond the approximately 200+ templated strategies, Coinrule gives you the ability to customize strategies. On a more basic level, here’s what it would look like if I wanted to buy $1,000 of BTC any time the price dips 10%.

You can get very creative with these options. For example, among the variables you can put in place when buying BTC any time the prices moves down 10% are:

• When to start/stop this strategy.
• How many times it should execute.
• The amount of time it took to move 10% (e.g., 10 minutes vs. 30 days).
• Whether a separate coin (e.g., ETH) dipped 10% as well.
• A market cap condition, such as to execute only when the market cap is below a certain amount.

This is a small sample of what’s available, and while the trading strategies do get complex, the software doesn’t. Adding conditions with Coinrule is simple throughout the process.

Backtesting With Coinrule

Want to see how a strategy has performed in the past? Coinrule posts its scripts to the website TradingView, which allows you to create backtests of different strategies.

Unfortunately, Coinrule hasn’t uploaded each of their 190+ scripts to TradingView. You therefore may have to customize within TradingView the specific test you’re looking for. Yet, in the end, you can get some very valuable information about your strategy, including

• Net profit.
• Total closed trades.
• Percent of trades profitable.
• Profit factor.
• Max drawdown.
• Average trade.
• Comparison between how a buy and hold strategy would have worked over this same time period on bluechip assets like BTC or ETH.

How Coinrule Executes Trades

Coinrule isn’t an exchange itself. Instead, it executes trades by connecting directly, via API, to exchanges where you have assets.

Currently, Coinrule supports the following exchanges:

• Bitfinex
• Binance/Binance U.S.
• BitMEX
• Bitpanda Pro
• Bitstamp
• Bittrex
• Coinbase Pro
• HitBTC
• Kraken
• Kucoin
• Liquid
• Poloniex
• Uniswap

Note that Coinrule does not have the ability to trade on an exchange based on a certain set of criteria — i.e., a condition that says to execute a trade based on which exchange has the lowest fees. When you’re setting a rule, you have to choose which exchange to trade on.

Coinrule Pricing

Coinrule has a free starter plan, which gives you access to:

• Two live rules.
• Two demo rules.
• Seven template strategies.
• One connected exchange.
• Up to $3,000 in monthly trade volume.

If you need more than that, you can upgrade to one of three paid plans, with the following features. Prices below are monthly but can be paid yearly for a discounted overall rate.

Coinrule accepts credit cards, along with payment in BTC, ETH, LTC, USDC and DAI.

It’s important to note that what’s excluded here is any trading fees on the exchange itself. You’ll pay a separate fee, depending on the exchange, to execute the trade. What you’re paying Coinrule for is the software to execute the trade, not trading fees themselves.

Coinrule Alternatives

Two popular Coinrule alternatives are Crypohopper and Shrimpy.

Comparison notes:

• With features like exchange arbitrage and the ability to switch strategies once conditions are met, Cryptohopper is best suited for the higher-frequency, short-term trader.
• Shrimpy has the ability to trade on decentralized exchanges, which gives traders the largest selection of assets to invest in.
• With features like automated rebalancing and min/max allocation, Shrimpy is more designed for overall portfolio management versus short-term trading.

Is Coinrule Safe?

Coinrule isn’t an exchange itself. It doesn’t hold any of your assets, nor does it ever ask for your private keys. To execute a trade you must connect your account via a centralized exchange’s API. Trades then execute automatically on the exchanges.

Coinrule stores the API keys in an encrypted form with dedicated private keys, which are generated for each user separately.

There are no rules/conditions within Coinrule that allow for the transfer of your assets on an exchange outside of your account.

To log in, Coinrule uses two-factor authentication for enhanced security.

Is Coinrule Right For You?

Like any trading software, experienced traders will get the most value out of Coinrule. This is especially true for those who have a strong grasp of Coinrule’s existing templated strategies and know when and where to use them, or those who can slightly customize them when they spot market opportunities. 

For this type of investor, Coinrule allows them to save a lot of time and execute their trades more efficiently.

For beginner traders, Coinrule has a robust free account that allows you to paper trade. This is a good way to test your competence and ability in the competitive game of crypto investing without risking capital.

For intermediate investors, I can see a use for implementing and automating basic trading strategies, such as “Buy the Dip.” Depending on the amount you trade, this type of investor could qualify for Coinrule’s free starter plan. With crypto’s high volatility, a simple strategy like this could be an alternative to dollar cost averaging at predetermined intervals.

Overall, trading crypto is a very risky game. There’s no escaping this; even if you do everything right, there’s still a chance your account will lose value by factors outside of your control (such as government regulation). If this fact scares you, Coinrule may not be the tool for you. (And you may want to avoid crypto investing altogether.)

If you do understand the risks, Coinrule is a unique offering that can not only save you time but, used correctly, help you become a better trader.

Read next: How to get free Bitcoin.

R.J. Weiss

R.J. Weiss, founder of The Ways To Wealth, has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ since 2010. Holding a B.A. in finance and having completed the CFP® certification curriculum at The American College, R.J. combines formal education with a deep commitment to providing unbiased financial insights. Recognized as a trusted authority in the financial realm, his expertise is highlighted in major publications like Business Insider, New York Times, and Forbes.