Step-by-step beginner guides and key concepts. Learn how to execute trades, manage risk, and understand the instruments you're trading — all in plain language.
Follow these guides exactly as written. Every step uses beginner-friendly language. No prior trading experience required.
Plain-language answers to the questions every new trader asks. Understanding these concepts before you trade is not optional — it's the difference between informed risk-taking and gambling.
Yes, you can — but it is a fundamentally different instrument and the result will not be the same.
A spot trade means you're buying or selling the actual asset (for example, buying real BTC). You can only go Long on spot — there is no shorting without additional steps like margin borrowing. V23 signals include both LONG and SHORT positions, so you can only act on the Long signals via a simple spot buy.
You can use the Entry Zone as your buy price and the TP1, TP2, TP3 levels as your sell targets. The Invalidation level becomes the price at which you'd sell to cut your loss. This is a valid approach for non-derivatives accounts.
What you give up: You cannot use leverage in a standard spot account, which means your potential dollar gain on a given move is limited to how much cash you deploy. You also cannot benefit from Short signals at all without a margin account.
No — the mechanics are different even if the price levels are identical.
On a spot trade with $1,000 and BTC moves 3% to TP1, you make roughly $30. On a futures trade with the same $1,000 and 5x leverage, that same 3% move becomes ~$150 — but a 3% move against you becomes -$150 and you may be liquidated before the stop is hit.
The V23 price levels (Entry Zone, Invalidation, TP1/2/3) are identical across both instruments. The financial outcome from those levels depends entirely on how much capital you risk, what leverage you use, and whether you're in a derivative or spot position.
Spot trades are safer for beginners because there is no leverage, no liquidation risk, and no funding rate cost. You simply own the asset. The tradeoff is lower dollar returns on the same trade size.
| Instrument | What It Is | Can Go Short? | Expiry? | Leverage? | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spot | Buy or sell the actual asset at the current market price. You own the coin. | No (standard) | No | No (standard) | Low |
| Futures | A contract to buy or sell an asset at a set price on a future date. Has a specific expiry date (monthly, quarterly). | Yes | Yes — expires | Yes | Medium |
| Perpetual (Perp) | Like a futures contract but with no expiry date. Stays open indefinitely via a "funding rate" mechanism that keeps it near spot price. | Yes | No expiry | Yes | Medium |
| Option | The right (not obligation) to buy or sell an asset at a specific price before expiry. Comes in two forms: Call (right to buy) and Put (right to sell). | Yes (via Put) | Yes — expires | Built-in | High |
V23 signals are designed for Perpetuals — specifically Coinbase International USDC-settled PERP contracts (BTC-PERP, ETH-PERP, SOL-PERP, etc.). These work identically on all major exchanges listing equivalent PERP contracts. Do not apply V23 signal levels to options — options pricing has entirely different mechanics.
Yes — crypto carries significantly higher risk than traditional stock markets, for several reasons:
| Factor | Crypto Futures/Perps | Stock Market |
|---|---|---|
| Market hours | 24/7, 365 days — no breaks, no circuit breakers | Set hours, halts exist, weekends off |
| Volatility | 10–30%+ daily moves are not uncommon | 1–3% average daily moves |
| Leverage available | Up to 100x on some exchanges | 2x–4x on regulated brokers |
| Regulation | Evolving, inconsistent globally | Heavy regulation, investor protections |
| Exchange risk | Exchanges can halt, fail, or get hacked | Exchanges are highly regulated and insured |
| Liquidation risk | Yes — leveraged position wiped instantly | Margin calls, but slower |
This does not mean crypto trading is always a bad idea — but it means you need strict position sizing, mandatory stop losses, and a clear risk management plan before ever placing a trade. V23 provides the signal levels. Managing risk is entirely your responsibility.
These timeframes produce more setups but also more whipsaws (rapid reversals). Stop losses are smaller in dollars, but positions flip fast. Requires fast execution and full attention during the trade.
Higher timeframes produce fewer signals but each one carries more statistical weight. Stop losses are wider in dollars but positions move slower, allowing more time to react and manage. Better for beginners.
The 4-Hour (4H) and Daily (1D) timeframes produce the most stable setups with the highest signal-to-noise ratio. On these timeframes, price has more "weight" behind each move — it takes significantly more buying or selling pressure to push price through a level, which means setups break down less often.
For beginners learning to trade, starting with 1H or 4H signals is strongly recommended. You have more time to execute, adjust stops, and think clearly — compared to 15m Degen plays where a setup can resolve in 20 minutes.
The tradeoff: steadier timeframes mean fewer signals per week and wider stop distances in dollar terms. But they also mean less stress, more sleep, and more time to learn the craft properly.
The signals are generated by the V23 Institutional Edge Engine — a custom-built algorithmic model running in TradingView Pine Script.
This is not a chatbot, not a language model, and not a simple indicator. It is a multi-factor scoring engine that evaluates eight criteria on every price bar: EMA stack structure, volume regime, RSI momentum, squeeze state, explosive move detection, higher-timeframe alignment, VWAP position, and ADX trend strength. Each factor is scored in real time. When the combined score clears a threshold — B+ or higher — a signal fires and is routed automatically to the appropriate Telegram channels.
No human manually issues the entry signals. The model runs continuously on each chart, on each timeframe, for each asset. The ZHC (Zero Human Company) framework describes exactly that — the signal pipeline from chart analysis to Telegram delivery operates without manual intervention.
What does involve human judgment: the construction of the engine's scoring rules, the selection of thresholds, the choice of which assets to cover, and the ongoing refinement of the model as market conditions evolve. The signal engine was designed and is maintained by a person. The live execution of individual signals is not.
Both can produce significant returns — but they work in completely different ways and carry different risks. Here's a realistic side-by-side breakdown using the same $1,000 starting position:
| Factor | 15m Degen Call | 1D Swing Trade (SNIPER) |
|---|---|---|
| Typical TP1 target | 1% – 3% price move | 4% – 12% price move |
| Hold time | 15 min – 2 hours | 1 day – 2 weeks |
| $1,000 at 1x leverage — TP1 gain | ~$10 – $30 | ~$40 – $120 |
| $1,000 at 5x leverage — TP1 gain | ~$50 – $150 | ~$200 – $600 |
| $1,000 at 5x leverage — loss if stopped out | ~$50 – $100 (tight stops) | ~$100 – $250 (wider stops) |
| Signals per week (approx.) | 5 – 20+ opportunities | 1 – 5 opportunities |
| Attention required | High — resolves fast | Low — patient hold |
| Funding rate cost (perps) | Minimal — short hold | Accumulates over days |
The real answer: Degen calls on 15m have a higher frequency of opportunity — you can compound gains more often if you execute well and the signals hit. Swing trades on higher timeframes have a larger per-trade target — one clean 1D setup can return more than 10 back-to-back 15m trades. Neither is automatically better. Your edge comes from which one you execute most consistently.
Everything on this page is general market information for educational and informational purposes only. V23 is not a registered investment adviser, commodity trading adviser, or broker-dealer. Nothing here constitutes financial advice, investment advice, or a personalized recommendation to trade any instrument. You are solely responsible for all trading decisions, position sizing, leverage choices, risk management, and any resulting financial outcomes. Crypto futures and perpetual markets involve substantial risk of loss, including the possibility of losing more than your initial deposit. Past signal performance is not indicative of future results. Read our full disclaimer →