Configuration

The algorithm is designed to be highly configurable and can be adjusted to your needs. The following configuration variables can be either set as command-line arguments or via environment variables. They are mapped to the corresponding command-line arguments internally.

Strategy configuration

In order to run the available strategies efficiently, one need to know the configuration of those. Even though these strategies follow different approaches, they share the same fundamental concept and configuration properties. In the following, the most important of them are explained in order to guide you through the configuration process.

Choosing the right strategy

Choosing the right strategy is crucial for success. The strategies differ in their approach and are designed for different market conditions (see Strategies). Make sure to understand all of them before choosing the right one for your needs.

Choosing the right base and quote currency

The base and quote currency should be chosen wisely. The base currency is the currency you want to trade with, and the quote currency is the currency you want to trade against. The base currency should be chosen based on your trading preferences and the liquidity of the market. The quote currency should be chosen based on your trading preferences and the volatility of the market. Currency pairs with high volatility can lead to higher profits but also to higher risks.

Choosing the optimal interval

The interval defines the percentage difference between the buy and sell orders. The interval should be chosen based on the volatility of the market. A higher interval, e.g., 4 % leads to a higher profits between buy and selling an asset, and reduces the amount of orders in a moderate volatile market. A lower interval, e.g., 2 % leads to a higher amount of orders and a lower profit margin.

Consequently the interval should be chosen based on the volatility of the market and the risk you are willing to take. A higher interval is less risky but since prices not always reach the buy and sell orders (… since markets don’t go e.g., 4 % up and down), it can lead to less executed orders resulting in lower profits. In contrast to that, a lower interval is more risky, as prices can rise and fall rapidly but can lead to a higher profits if the market’s volatility matches the grid interval.

Note

The value passed to the interval is a percentage value. For example, an interval of 4 % means that the buy and sell orders are placed 4 % apart from each other. In this case, you have to pass a value of 0.04 to --interval, or KRAKEN_RUN_INTERVAL.

Choosing the optimal amount per grid

The amount per grid defines the amount of the quote currency to use per grid interval. It should be chosen based on the amount of the quote currency you want to invest in the market. For example if you want to invest 100 USD per grid interval (i.e. per trade), the amount per grid should be set to 100. Combining this amount with an interval of 4 % would result in a profit of about 4 USD per trade (depending on the strategy used).

When choosing the amount per grid, make sure to consider the amount of the quote currency in our account, since depending on the number of concurrent open buy orders, the amount per grid should be balanced. For example, if you have 5 open buy orders with an amount per grid of 100 USD, you should have at least 500 USD in your account to cover all open buy orders.

Another aspect to consider is the minimal order sizes of the quote currency that can be traded on the exchange. Make sure to set the amount per grid higher than the minimal amount to avoid errors. For further information, check the exchange’s article Minimum order size (volume) for trading.

Choosing the optimal amount of concurrent open buy orders

The number of concurrent open buy orders defines the number of buy orders that are open at the same time. This number should be chosen based on the volatility of the market and the risk you are willing to take. A higher number of open buy orders secures a rapid price drop of almost 10 % that can be caught immediately, in case the interval is set to 2 % and number of open buy orders is 5.

As mentioned before, the number of open buy orders should be balanced with the amount per grid. For example, if you have 5 open buy orders with an amount per grid of 100 USD, you should have at least 500 USD in your account to cover all open buy orders.

Setting a custom fee

Another aspect to consider is the fee that is charged by the Kraken exchange. The fee is usually a percentage of the traded amount. If the fee is not set during program start, the highest taker fee for that currency pair used which doesn’t mean that the highest fee is paid. It is used internally to calculate order sizes, prices, and ensures that profits are calculated correctly.

Setting a custom fee via the --fee or KRAKEN_RUN_FEE option enables, depending on the strategy, a more accurate profit calculation. For the average user, this is not necessary. For more information about the fees, check the Fee Schedule.

Note

The fee is always paid in the quote currency.

Risk management

Risk management is crucial for successful trading. The algorithm provides several options to manage the risk. The most important ones are the amount per grid, the interval, the number of concurrent open buy orders, and the maximum investment.

Especially the maximum investment is important to prevent the algorithm from investing more than you are willing to lose. The maximum investment defines the maximum amount of the quote currency that the algorithm will use for trading. Setting the maximum investment is recommended and can be done via the --max-investment or KRAKEN_RUN_MAX_INVESTMENT option.

The amount per grid, the interval, and the number of concurrent open buy orders should be chosen based on the maximum investment. In order to demonstrate this, lets use and example:

Scenario: Trading BTC/USD

• Starting price: 100,000.00 USD per BTC

• Interval: 4.0% (i.e. 0.04)

• Amount per grid: 100.00

• Maximum investment: 1,000.00

• Current balance in the account: 5,000.00 USD

You will have the following grid levels for buy, based on the interval and the starting price, and ensuring to even catch a drawdown of about 34%:

• Grid 1: 96,000.00 USD (-4.00%)

• Grid 2: 92,160.00 USD (-7.84%)

• Grid 3: 88,473.60 USD (-11.53%)

• Grid 4: 84,934.66 USD (-15.07%)

• Grid 5: 81,537.27 USD (-18.46%)

• Grid 6: 78,275.78 USD (-21.72%)

• Grid 7: 75,144.75 USD (-24.86%)

• Grid 8: 72,138.96 USD (-27.86%)

• Grid 9: 69,253.40 USD (-30.75%)

• Grid 10: 66,483.26 USD (-33.52%)

Note that since the maximum investment is set, the algorithm will stop placing further buy orders if 1,000 USD are already invested with this instance. If a buy order was executed, depending on the strategy, a sell order will be placed at 4% higher than the buy order.

Note

The grid levels may also not be exactly the same as shown, they are just for demonstration purposes. In a real life scenario, the grid levels are calculated based on the interval and current market prices, can be shifted up or down based on the market’s volatility.

Command-line Interface

kraken-infinity-grid provides a command-line interface (CLI) to configure and run the trading algorithm. The CLI is based on the Click library and provides a set of commands to interact with the algorithm.

kraken-infinity-grid

Command-line interface entry point

kraken-infinity-grid [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Options

--version

--api-key <api_key>

Required The Kraken Spot API key

--secret-key <secret_key>

Required The Kraken Spot API secret key

-v, --verbose

Increase the verbosity of output. Use -vv for even more verbosity.

--dry-run

Enable dry-run mode which do not execute trades.

run

Run the trading algorithm using the specified options.

kraken-infinity-grid run [OPTIONS]

Options

--strategy <strategy>

Required The strategy to run.

Options:

cDCA | GridHODL | GridSell | SWING

--name <name>

Required The name of the instance. Can be any name that is used to differentiate between instances of the kraken-infinity-grid.

--base-currency <base_currency>

Required The base currency.

--quote-currency <quote_currency>

Required The quote currency.

--amount-per-grid <amount_per_grid>

Required The quote amount to use per interval.

--interval <interval>

Required The interval between orders.

--n-open-buy-orders <n_open_buy_orders>

Required The number of concurrent open buy orders e.g., 5. The number of always open buy positions specifies how many buy positions should be open at the same time. If the interval is defined to 2%, a number of 5 open buy positions ensures that a rapid price drop of almost 10% that can be caught immediately.

--telegram-token <telegram_token>

The Telegram token to use.

--telegram-chat-id <telegram_chat_id>

The telegram chat ID to use.

--exception-token <exception_token>

The telegram token to use for exceptions.

--exception-chat-id <exception_chat_id>

The telegram chat ID to use for exceptions.

--max-investment <max_investment>

The maximum investment, e.g. 1000 USD that the algorithm will manage.

--userref <userref>

Required A reference number to identify the algorithm’s orders. This can be a timestamp or any integer number. Use different userref’s for different instances!

--fee <fee>

The fee percentage to respect, e.g. ‘0.0026’ for 0.26 %. This value does not change the actual paid fee, instead it used to estimate order sizes. If not passed, the highest maker fee will be used.

--skip-price-check

Skip checking if there was a price update in the last 10 minutes. By default, the bot will exit if no recent price data is available. This might be useful for assets that aren’t traded that often.

--sqlite-file <sqlite_file>

SQLite file to use as database.

--db-name <db_name>

The database name.

--db-user <db_user>

PostgreSQL DB user

--db-password <db_password>

PostgreSQL DB password

--db-host <db_host>

PostgreSQL DB host

--db-port <db_port>

PostgreSQL DB port

Environment Variables

Since kraken-infinity-grid is designed to be run in containerized environments, the configuration can also be done via environment variables. The naming pattern follows the convention of the command-line arguments respecting the KRAKEN_ prefix and Click’s naming convention.

Configuration Variables

Variable	Type	Description
KRAKEN_API_KEY	str	Your Kraken API key.
KRAKEN_SECRET_KEY	str	Your Kraken secret key.
KRAKEN_RUN_NAME	str	The name of the instance. Can be any name that is used to differentiate between instances of the kraken-infinity-grid.
KRAKEN_RUN_USERREF	int	A reference number to identify the algorithm’s orders. This can be a timestamp or any integer number. Use different userref’s for different instances!
KRAKEN_BOT_VERBOSE	int / (-v, -vv)	Enable verbose logging.
KRAKEN_DRY_RUN	bool	Enable dry-run mode (no actual trades).
KRAKEN_RUN_BASE_CURRENCY	str	The base currency e.g., BTC or ETH.
KRAKEN_RUN_QUOTE_CURRENCY	str	The quote currency e.g., USD or EUR.
KRAKEN_RUN_AMOUNT_PER_GRID	float	The quote amount to use per grid interval e.g., 100 (USD) per trade.
KRAKEN_RUN_INTERVAL	float	The interval between orders e.g., 0.04 to have 4 % intervals.
KRAKEN_RUN_N_OPEN_BUY_ORDERS	int	The number of concurrent open buy orders e.g., 5. The number of always open buy positions specifies how many buy positions should be open at the same time. If the interval is defined to 2%, a number of 5 open buy positions ensures that a rapid price drop of almost 10% that can be caught immediately.
KRAKEN_RUN_MAX_INVESTMENT	str	The maximum investment, e.g. 1000 USD that the algorithm will manage.
KRAKEN_RUN_FEE	float	A custom fee percentage, e.g. 0.0026 for 0.26 % fee.
KRAKEN_RUN_STRATEGY	str	The trading strategy, e.g., GridHODL, GridSell, SWING, or cDCA
KRAKEN_RUN_TELEGRAM_TOKEN	str	The Telegram bot token for notifications.
KRAKEN_RUN_TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID	str	The Telegram chat ID for notifications.
KRAKEN_RUN_EXCEPTION_TOKEN	str	The Telegram bot token for exception notifications.
KRAKEN_RUN_EXCEPTION_CHAT_ID	str	The Telegram chat ID for exception notifications.
KRAKEN_RUN_DB_USER	str	The PostgreSQL database user.
KRAKEN_RUN_DB_NAME	str	The PostgreSQL database name.
KRAKEN_RUN_DB_PASSWORD	str	The PostgreSQL database password.
KRAKEN_RUN_DB_HOST	str	The PostgreSQL database host.
KRAKEN_RUN_DB_PORT	int	The PostgreSQL database port.
KRAKEN_RUN_SQLITE_FILE	str	The path to a local SQLite database file, e.g., /path/to/sqlite.db, will be created if it does not exist. If a SQLite database is used, the PostgreSQL database configuration is ignored.

Database configuration

The algorithm requires a PostgreSQL or SQLite database to store the current orderbook, trades, and the algorithm’s state. The database configuration can be set via environment variables or command-line arguments.

PostgreSQL

When using the algorithm as proposed in Getting Started via the provided Docker Compose file, the PostgreSQL database is automatically configured.

The algorithm requires the following environment variables to be set, in order to connect to the PostgreSQL database:

• KRAKEN_RUN_DB_USER

• KRAKEN_RUN_DB_NAME

• KRAKEN_RUN_DB_PASSWORD

• KRAKEN_RUN_DB_HOST

• KRAKEN_RUN_DB_PORT

SQLite

When running the algorithm as a pure Python process or as a Docker container without further PostgreSQL deployment, the algorithm can use a SQLite database for local storage.

For this purpose, the option --sqlite-file can be used to specify the path to the SQLite database file. The SQLite database is created automatically if it does not exist.

Alternatively, the KRAKEN_RUN_SQLITE_FILE environment variable can be used to specify the path to the SQLite database file.

Note

Do not use :memory: for an in-memory database, as this will result in data loss when the algorithm is restarted.