You trade on the exchange and want subscribers to be able to copy your trades. In CopyTrader, your project is created for this purpose: you connect a trading account as a trader, and participants connect their exchange accounts as investors. The funds remain on their exchanges.
Below is the pathway of the owner of such a project according to the current CopyTrader help guide. Section names and buttons are taken from it. Available exchanges, markets, and additional settings depend on the project configuration.
Create a Project and Open Its Dashboard
In the main CopyTrader dashboard, open "Projects" and click "Create project." Prepare a name and a separate Telegram bot for the project. The project name must start with a Latin letter and contain only Latin letters and digits; the bot token is entered in the dashboard field.
In the form, specify the number of traders and investors, select the exchange and required functions. If all will trade on one platform, cross-trading is not needed for this scenario. Add it when a supported pair of different exchanges is required. Languages and default language are set here as well.
After filling out, choose the starting plan: START or COMPANY. The cost of selected options will be in the generated invoice. Check its contents, top up the service balance if necessary, and confirm the creation. This balance pays for the service operation; trading funds remain in exchange accounts.
Wait for deployment and synchronization. In the main dashboard, open "Projects" or the created project's page and follow the link to the copying dashboard. It has its own authorization: the main dashboard credentials do not apply here. For a new project, the guide "First entry to the copying dashboard" describes initial login with username admin and an empty password field. Immediately open administrator settings, set a new password of at least six characters with Latin letters and digits, and click "Save changes." When attempting to open another section, the dashboard will also warn about the empty password and offer to go to settings. Do not leave the project with an empty password and do not send the set password to anyone.
Connect a Trading Account as a Trader
In the project dashboard, open "Users," then "Create user." Fill in the login and password, select the role "Trader," and save the form. After creation, profile settings and strategy description are available.
Select the exchange allowed by the project and enter its API credentials into the protected dashboard fields. Some exchanges have an additional field, e.g., Pass Phrase. Click "Check keys." Connection errors must be resolved before enabling trade publication; the exact verification message helps understand the cause.
Set trader visibility and trade publication separately for Spot and Futures. Enable the required market and save changes. Withdrawal permissions for keys are not required and should be disabled. Keys and Telegram bot token should not be sent to support chat.
You continue to trade on the connected exchange account as usual. If your robot opens trades, this same account is the source for copying. Uploading the robot code to CopyTrader is not needed for the described connection.
Connect Participants of Your Audience
There are two documented ways. The administrator creates a user with the role "Investor" via "Users." Or the participant registers independently if the administrator enabled public registration in the project. In the latter case, the audience needs the address of exactly your copying dashboard.
In investor settings, the allowed exchange is selected. The participant enters Key, Secret, and additional credentials if needed, then clicks "Check keys." The selected market requires permissions for reading and trading; withdrawal must be forbidden.
Then the investor chooses your trader if the subscription is available. If the trader already has open positions, before enabling copying open the "Copying" section in investor settings. Here, additional risk parameters and synchronization dialog appear depending on project, market, and trader. See what action with open positions your dialog suggests. If it is not shown or the outcome with those positions is unclear, stop: do not enable copying or confirm synchronization until the project administrator clarifies behavior for your configuration.
After that, separately for Spot and Futures, enable "Copy trades" and set the percentage of free deposit. This affects copying volume and does not set a maximum loss percentage. Save changes and check key status and system messages. If subscription is unavailable, the reason may be project settings, trader privacy, or failed API verification.
How to Understand That the Connection Works
After enabling copying, analyze a specific trading event: time, instrument, trader action, and result for one connected investor. Use a regular scheduled trade; opening a random position to check is unnecessary.
In the "System log," find the event by time and user, open details, and match the result with actual orders and position on the investor's exchange. On the subscribers page, information about copying, balances, positions, and orders is available. If the result differs from expected, look at the exact exchange rejection or system message: lack of funds and invalid API permissions require different actions.
Do not use synchronization or close commands as harmless diagnostics. Some create real market operations.
Even with a working connection, the price, position size, and result for the investor may differ due to settings, liquidity, fees, and delays. Copying involves trading risk and does not guarantee profitability. A detailed discrepancy analysis is available in the article "Reconciliation of Orders and Positions in Copy Trading".