Copy Trading Guide: How It Works, Risks and How to Choose a Trader

Copy trading lets you copy another trader's positions automatically. When the trader you follow opens or closes a trade, the platform opens or closes a proportional trade in your account. It lowers the effort of trading, but it does not remove the risk: you take the losses of the trader you follow, plus fees.

How it works

You choose a trader from a list, decide how much to allocate and set any limits the platform offers. The platform then mirrors that trader's trades in proportion to your allocation. You can usually stop copying at any time. Bybit and Bitget both offer copy trading, and other exchanges have similar features, but details such as fees, profit sharing and leverage limits differ by platform and country, so read the rules on the platform you use.

What it costs

• Trading fees on every copied trade, which depend on the product and your tier.
• Many platforms let traders charge a share of the profit. Check how and when it is taken.
• Slippage: your copied trade may fill at a slightly different price from the trader's, especially in fast markets.

See the exchange fee comparison for the base fees we could confirm on each exchange.

The risks

• Past results do not predict future results. A trader who did well in one market may do badly in the next.
• Strategy drift. A trader can change style or take more risk, and you will copy it.
• Leverage. Many traders use leveraged futures, so a loss can be large and liquidation can be fast. Read the leverage and risk management guide.
• Survivorship bias. Lists show traders who are doing well now. Those who blew up are no longer listed.
• Copying mistakes. A trader's entry may be late by the time yours fills.

What to check in a trader's profile

• How long the history is. A short record says little.
• Drawdown, not just return. How far did the account fall at its worst? Could you live through that?
• Leverage and the instruments used. Do they match your risk tolerance?
• Consistency across market conditions, not a single lucky run.
• How the trader behaves in losing periods. Look at the trade history, not just the summary.

There is no number that proves a trader is safe. Treat any single statistic with caution.

Practical rules

• Start with an amount you can afford to lose entirely.
• Do not put your whole allocation on one trader; limit each one to a small share of your portfolio.
• Review the results regularly, and stop copying if the trader's behaviour changes.
• Understand the stop and loss limits the platform lets you set, and use them.
• Remember that you are still responsible for the risk. If you would not take a trade yourself, think hard before copying it.

Where to try it

See the guides for Bybit and Bitget for what each offers and what to check before signing up. Any fee discount for referred users is set by the exchange.

Nothing here is financial advice, and copy trading can lose money.