Trailing Stop Guide for Crypto Traders
6 min readUpdated Dec 2025
A trailing stop is a dynamic stop loss that moves in your favor as price moves. It protects profits while giving a trend room to continue.
When a trailing stop makes sense
Trailing stops work best in trending markets. In choppy conditions they often get hit too early.
Common trailing methods
- Fixed percent: the stop trails a fixed percentage behind price.
- Structure based: the stop moves under recent swing lows or highs.
- Volatility based: the stop uses a range measure like ATR.
Avoid these mistakes
- Using a tight trail on assets with large daily ranges.
- Moving the stop on every small candle instead of meaningful swings.
- Trailing before the trade has moved far enough.
Tip: Start with a normal Stop Loss. After price moves 1R-2R in your favor, switch to a structure-based trailing stop.
A simple trailing plan
- Place a normal stop based on invalidation.
- Take partial profit at 1R if you prefer.
- Trail the remaining position under the last swing low.
- Exit when the swing level breaks.
Trailing stops only work with proper sizing. If the stop is too tight for the asset, no method will save the trade. Use the calculator to match size to stop distance.
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