The market is volatile. It rebounds just after you cut your losses, and plummets just after you buy the bottom. The temptation to buy more and the false breakouts take turns, which makes people lose their minds. How to trade elegantly and make profits in a volatile market? You must understand these OKX strategies!
First of all, you need to be clear about your trading style - are you a short-term hunter or a steady arbitrage player? Short-term traders can use tools such as contracts, grid trading, options, etc. to quickly enter and exit and seize arbitrage opportunities brought by market fluctuations; while steady arbitrageurs can choose tools such as dual currency win, shark fin, fixed investment strategy, etc., to steadily accumulate profits in the volatile market, and even easily achieve low buy and high sell. Secondly, stop relying on "guessing the market", but use strategies to win profits. Whether it is using grid trading and Martingale strategy, automatically selling high and buying low for short-term arbitrage; or choosing dual currency win and bottom-picking profit-taking strategy to lock in stable profits within the volatile range; or using shark fin and option strategies to seize the opportunity of huge profits when the market breaks through, effectively control risks through the stop-profit and stop-loss functions, and reasonable risk management helps you avoid traps.
Next, we will deeply analyze the gameplay and applicable scenarios of these strategies, and comprehensively analyze the advantages and disadvantages of OKX's 7 major trading tools to help you find the trading method that suits you best. No matter which strategy you choose, choosing the right tool is always more important than blindly operating. Only by matching it with your own trading style can you calmly deal with market fluctuations.
1. You want low-threshold arbitrage
OKX spot grid is suitable for conservative users, and contract grid is suitable for advanced users. Because the capital utilization rate of contract grid is high, but there is a risk of liquidation, so strict risk control is required. The investment cost can be above 0U, and the participation threshold is low. Grid trading is an automated quantitative trading strategy that divides multiple grids within a preset price range, buys low and sells high, and captures arbitrage opportunities brought by market fluctuations. According to the application scenario, the contract grid is further subdivided into long, short and neutral modes to adapt to different market trends. OKX spot & contract grid supports custom parameters or AI parameters. Users can use it with just one click. It is very convenient.
| OKX Spot & Contract Grid Strategy | ||
| Core Dimensions | Spot Grid Trading | Contract Grid Trading |
| Trading Mechanism | Full capital transaction, buy low and sell high to earn the price difference | Leveraged trading (1-50 times), two-way opening (long/short) |
| Applicable market conditions | Price fluctuations are volatile with no clear trend | Trending market (one-sided rise/fall) or wide range fluctuations (high volatility) |
| Core risks | One-sided market conditions and handling fee losses | Liquidation risk and funding rate cost |
| Income characteristics | Fixed spread income | Leverage amplification income + funding rate income |
| Funding requirements | 100% capital occupation | Margin Trading |
| Difficulty of operation | Basic parameter settings or AI parameters | Need to manage leverage ratio/stop profit and stop loss, etc. |
| Dealing with extreme market conditions | Continued decline may exhaust funds, but there is no forced liquidation | Extreme volatility can easily trigger a margin call, resulting in the loss of all principal |
| For example | Automatic arbitrage when BTC fluctuates between 80,000 and 100,000 U | ETH is trending up after breaking through 2000U |
2. You want to profit from the rebound
OKX provides two strategies: spot and contract Martingale. As a higher-risk strategy, Martingale is essentially a "counter-trend" strategy, so novices should use it with caution! Mature traders need to make trend judgments and strictly control risks. Martingale strategy, full name Dollar Cost Averaging (US dollar average cost), referred to as DCA, is a trading method that focuses on position management. The core concept is "loss increase position to pull the average price, profit reset", and the main feature is to double the transaction amount after each loss until a victory is achieved. The basic assumption of this strategy is that as long as the capital is large enough, the final victory will make up for all previous losses and bring profits.
| OKX Spot & Contract Martingale Strategy | ||
| Core Dimensions | Spot Martingale | Contract Martingale |
| Trading Mechanism | When the price falls, buy spot assets in batches, spread the cost, and wait for profits after the rebound. | After losing money in contract trading, double the position (long/short) and use leverage to magnify the profit until the market reverses and closes the position |
| Applicable market conditions | Long-term bullish but short-term volatile market, volatile downward trend (need to have rebound expectations) | High volatility (no clear unilateral trend), reversal after short-term overbought/oversold |
| Core Logic | By continuously spreading the cost, lowering the threshold for unwinding, and relying on trend reversal | Leverage is used to accelerate returns, relying on short-term fluctuations or reversals, and has extremely high requirements for timing. |
| Core risks | The exponential growth of capital demand may exhaust the principal, and long-term unilateral decline may lead to a "bottomless pit" of losses. | Leverage accelerates the risk of liquidation, and high-frequency operations lead to higher fees |
| Income characteristics | The unwinding is profitable, but the rate of return is low | High volatility can bring fast returns, but the margin of error is extremely low, and there may be only a fine line between profit and liquidation. |
| Funding requirements | Sufficient reserve funds are required, no leverage, but the deeper the decline, the greater the demand | Leverage increases capital utilization, but the risk of forced liquidation increases dramatically |
| Target Group | Long-term holders and those with sufficient funds | High risk appetite, short-term high frequency traders |
| For example | Bitcoin fell from 60,000 to 30,000. I doubled my purchases every 10% drop, and I made an overall profit when it rebounded to 40,000. | ETH fluctuated between $2,000 and $2,200. After each long loss, a 2x position was opened, and it eventually rebounded to $2,100 and closed for profit. |
| Precautions | Avoid using risk-free assets and set a maximum number of margin calls | Strictly set stop loss lines, avoid high leverage, and be wary of extreme market conditions |
3. You can earn interest even if you don’t want to watch the market
Dual Currency Win is suitable for those who are not sure about the market direction but want to earn income, and those who are unwilling to do high-frequency trading. Dual Currency Win is a structured product created by OKX that guarantees interest but not principal, which can help users earn extra income while buying or selling digital currencies at the target price. Users can subscribe to Dual Currency Win and trade mainstream currency pairs, such as BTC - USDT, ETH - USDT), so as to enjoy stable income of any currency. However, it is worth noting that after the exercise is triggered, it may be exchanged for another asset. For this reason, OKX launched ETH/BTC currency-based Dual Currency Win, which supports BTC and ETH investment subscription to achieve low buying and high selling. Compared with the U-based Dual Currency Win, it provides a new way to earn income, 0 fees to realize the conversion between the two major cryptocurrencies, continuous interest, and no fear of missing the market due to conversion to USDT, etc., which helps users hold coins without worry.
| OKX Dual Currency Win | |
| Core Dimensions | Dual Currency Win |
| Trading Mechanism | Dual Currency Win is a fixed income product, and users can enjoy a fixed rate of return after subscribing. However, the specific currency of the return depends on whether the price of the currency that the user wants to buy and sell reaches the target price at maturity. |
| Applicable market conditions | Suitable for unilateral market and sideways market |
| Core Logic | Essentially, it is a simple option that is customized. By setting a target price, you are actually customizing an option strategy, and comparing the payoff and settlement price with the target. |
| Core risks | The main risk of dual currency win is that the risk of buying low products is that you may buy at a relatively high price. If the market continues to decline, it will cause losses in the U-based position; the risk of selling high products is that you may sell at a lower price. If the market rises subsequently, it will lead to losses in the currency-based position. |
| Income characteristics | The interest is guaranteed but the principal is not, that is, the return is clear but the principal may be lost due to exchange |
| Funding requirements | The minimum investment is 10U. OKX provides different lock-up periods of <7 days, 7-30 days, and >30 days. Users can choose flexibly. |
| Target Group | One type is those who want to buy low and sell high, have an expected price in mind, and hope to exchange coins and get an annualized return while waiting for the transaction. The other type is those who do not want to be exchanged for coins and only want to earn an annualized return. |
| For example | Buy BTC/USDT at a low price and win: The current price of BTC is $29,000, the target price is $25,000, the term is 7 days, the reference annual rate is 10%, if the BTC price is > $25,000, you will get U+ interest after maturity. If the BTC price is ≤ $25,000, you will get BTC+ interest |
| Precautions | - The range setting needs to be combined with volatility (too narrow is easy to break through, too wide has low returns)<br>- Avoid using before the Fed’s interest rate meeting or CPI data release<br>- Diversify multi-term and multi-range operations<br>- The exchange price may contain implicit slippage (such as set price vs market price) |
4. You don’t want to lose your capital
OKX Shark Fin is suitable for users who do not care about how much they earn but are unwilling to bear the loss of principal. Its core feature is that while enjoying the guaranteed income, they can also participate in the market and earn floating/extra income brought by the market. It allows users to earn annualized returns on assets such as USDT, BETH, and OKSOL in market fluctuations by tracking the fluctuations of currency prices. If the market conditions meet expectations, higher additional returns can be unlocked. OKX Shark Fin provides flexible participation periods of 1 day, 3 days, and 7 days. There is no need to watch the market. You can freely choose according to market predictions and fund arrangements to easily obtain stable returns. OKX provides bullish/bearish shark fins. Users can buy bullish and bearish shark fins at the same time, covering two-way fluctuations, increasing costs but diversifying risks. In addition, you can participate when the panic index soars, and the highest annualized rate provided by the platform is better under high volatility. In short, Shark Fin is suitable as a "cash management tool" to use idle funds to obtain returns when the fluctuation range is clear, but positions still need to be strictly managed.
| OKX Shark Fin | |
| Core Dimensions | Shark fin |
| Trading Mechanism | Since Shark Fin APY is based on the product's price range, the product's expiration price, and OKX's calculation mechanism, the relationship between the product's price range and the product's expiration price is crucial. It can be roughly divided into the following three scenarios: 1) The expiration price is lower than the product's price range: basic income is obtained; 2) The expiration price falls within the product's price range: gain income is obtained; 3) The expiration price is higher than the product's price range: basic income is obtained |
| Applicable market conditions | Any market conditions such as narrow range fluctuations, price fluctuations within a range, mild unilateral market conditions (prices rise/fall slowly but do not break through the range), low volatility markets such as sideways consolidation phase, etc. |
| Core Logic | Build a profit structure through option combinations. Get high returns on the condition that the price does not touch or break through the set range. |
| Core risks | When the price touches the upper and lower limits of the range, the maximum return will be invalid and only the guaranteed return will be obtained; if the market breaks through the range, the return may be lower than the spot holding return |
| Income characteristics | Tiered income, non-fixed income, actual income depends on whether the price touches the range boundary |
| Funding requirements | The minimum investment is 1 USDT, no service fee is required, and you can choose a short-term investment period of 1 day, 3 days or 7 days. The shark fin products you hold will be automatically settled after expiration, without manual operation. After expiration, you can also choose to automatically renew your investment |
| Target Group | Low-risk users who want to save money and earn interest |
| For example | BTC Shark Fin (Bullish): Current price BTC = $30,000, range $28,000-35,000, term 14 days. 1) If it does not touch $35,000 within 14 days, the maximum annualized return is 45% 2) If it touches $35,000, the minimum annualized return is 3% 3) If it falls below $28,000, the minimum annualized return is 3% |
5. You want to earn both price appreciation and interest income
OKX's bottom-picking and profit-taking strategy is a strategy based on dual-currency financial products to automatically bottom-pick, stop profit to earn coupons and currency price increase income. Circular arbitrage: Circular investment arbitrage is carried out based on the two directions of low buy and high sell based on dual-currency financial management. U-standard income: Invest in USDT, use dual-currency financial management to buy low, and after the low buy is successful, stop profit, earn the currency price difference and interest income. This strategy currently only supports BTC and ETH, but the system can flexibly match according to the user's target price, minimum annualization, and maximum investment period. In addition, OKX's bottom-picking and profit-taking strategy provides two modes: ordinary mode and advanced mode. The price of ordinary mode is set to a fixed absolute value, such as 75,000 USDT, which is suitable for scenarios with clear support/resistance levels and has low flexibility. The price of advanced mode is set to a dynamic ratio, such as a 5% drop in market price, which is suitable for scenarios without clear points but predicted fluctuation ratios, and has high flexibility.
| OKX bottom-picking and profit-taking strategy | ||
| Core Dimensions | Bottom-picking and profit-taking | Bottom-picking and profit-taking-normal mode |
| Trading Mechanism | The bottom-picking and profit-taking strategy is a strategy based on dual-currency financial products that automatically bottom-picks, stops profits to earn coupons and currency price increases. Circular arbitrage: Circular investment arbitrage is carried out in two directions: buy low and sell high based on dual-currency financial products. | The bottom-picking and profit-taking strategy is a strategy based on dual-currency financial products that automatically bottom-picks, stops profits to earn coupons and currency price increases. Circular arbitrage: Circular investment arbitrage is carried out in two directions: buy low and sell high based on dual-currency financial products. |
| Applicable market conditions | Narrow range oscillation (price fluctuations within a range), mild unilateral market (more suitable for slowly rising prices), low volatility market (such as sideways consolidation stage) | Narrow range oscillation (price fluctuations within a range), mild unilateral market (more suitable for slowly rising prices), low volatility market (such as sideways consolidation stage) |
| Core Logic | Utilize the "buy low, sell high" feature of dual-currency financial management to earn price difference income + coupon income in a cycle: earn interest when the transaction is not triggered, and take the price difference and continue to reinvest when the transaction is triggered | Utilize the "buy low, sell high" feature of dual-currency financial management to earn price difference income + coupon income in a cycle: earn interest when the transaction is not triggered, and take the price difference and continue to reinvest when the transaction is triggered |
| Core risks | The price cannot be triggered, long-term sideways trading leads to capital occupation, dual-currency financial products cannot be matched under extreme market conditions, the price difference income under unilateral market conditions is lower than the spot holding income, if the currency price falls below the purchase price and continues to fall, etc. | The price cannot be triggered, long-term sideways trading leads to capital occupation, dual-currency financial products cannot be matched under extreme market conditions, the price difference income under unilateral market conditions is lower than the spot holding income, if the currency price falls below the purchase price and continues to fall, etc. |
| Income characteristics | Interest + spread combination income, compound interest effect, income depends on the trigger frequency and currency price level | Interest + spread combination income, compound interest effect, income depends on the trigger frequency and currency price level |
| Funding requirements | The minimum investment is 10 USDT, there are many options for participation cycles, and reserve funds are required to cope with multiple cycles | The minimum investment is 10 USDT, there are many options for participation cycles, and reserve funds are required to cope with multiple cycles |
| Target Group | Those with medium risk appetite, who can accept short-term floating losses, grid traders who are familiar with technical analysis, and those who are optimistic about the currency in the long term but hope to reduce the cost of holding positions | Those with medium risk appetite, who can accept short-term floating losses, grid traders who are familiar with technical analysis, and those who are optimistic about the currency in the long term but hope to reduce the cost of holding positions |
| For example | BTC bottom-fishing and profit-taking strategy: Current BTC=70,000 U, set the bottom-fishing price to 65,000U, and the profit-taking price to 70,000U. If it drops to 65,000U, buy BTC and earn interest. When it rebounds to 70,000, sell it and earn the price difference + interest, and arbitrage in a cycle | BTC bottom-fishing and profit-taking strategy: Current BTC=70,000 USDT, set the bottom-fishing price at 65,000 (down 7%), and the profit-taking price at 65,000 (sell at the original price). If it drops to 65,000, buy BTC and earn interest. When it rebounds to 65,000, sell it and earn the price difference + interest, and arbitrage in a cycle |
Choose the right tool based on the market conditions
The essence of trading is not to predict the market, but to choose the right tools to deal with different market conditions. When the market fluctuates, blindly chasing ups and downs will only make the account take off - not a burst of profit, but an explosion. Smart traders will not be angry with the market, but use tools to make every market fluctuation become their own opportunity. For example, the OKX spot grid is suitable for Buddhist players who are too lazy to watch the market but want to earn some volatility income; the contract grid is an advanced tool with high capital utilization, but strict risk control is required. Dual currency wins allow coin holders to no longer "lose lying down", and they can get extra income regardless of whether the price goes up or down; and the shark fin is the gospel of conservative users. It doesn't matter how much you earn, and stabilizing the principal is the kingly way.
There are three types of people in the market: the first type relies on luck, with huge gains and losses like a roller coaster; the second type relies on cognition, technical analysis + strategy execution; the third type relies on tools to model and automate complex transactions to maximize profits. The first two types rely on emotions and experience, while the third type is the victory of "tool people". The diverse strategies and structured products provided by OKX allow you to no longer be led by emotions, but let tools help you execute your plans. For example, U-standard dual-currency win is suitable for traders who "take stable income while waiting for the opportunity to enter the market", while grid trading is suitable for users who want to continue arbitrage and steadily obtain profits brought by market fluctuations.
"The market doesn't lose money, it's the retail investors who lose money." Although this sentence hurts, it points out a reality: the gap between speculation and trading is even greater than the gap between a bull market and a bear market. If you are still relying on "snap trading", your opponent may have already used strategies to accurately calculate every transaction. Choosing the right tool is the first step to turn the market into an ATM. OKX has provided a wealth of strategic tools. Whether it is steady arbitrage or high-risk gambling, there is always one suitable for you. Instead of relying on luck, it is better to use tools to put the probability on your side .
Disclaimer:
This article is for reference only. This article only represents the author's views and does not represent the position of OKX. This article is not intended to provide (i) investment advice or investment recommendations; (ii) an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or hold digital assets; (iii) financial, accounting, legal or tax advice. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of such information. Holding digital assets (including stablecoins and NFTs) involves high risks and may fluctuate significantly. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding digital assets is suitable for you based on your financial situation. Please consult your legal/tax/investment professionals for your specific situation. Please be responsible for understanding and complying with local applicable laws and regulations.
