Bot Trading on Crypto Challenges: What Is Permitted Without Approval

One of the most common questions from algorithmic traders evaluating Dolvero crypto challenges is: "Do I need approval to run my bot?" The short answer is no. Automated trading on Dolvero crypto challenges is permitted without any pre-approval process. But there are rules that bots must comply with — and some behaviors that will result in account termination regardless of automation status. This guide covers all of it.

The Core Policy: Automation Is Permitted

Dolvero's crypto challenge rules explicitly permit automated trading strategies, including:

• Expert Advisors (EAs) connected to Bybit via the API
• Python or any other language bots using the Bybit REST or WebSocket API
• Commercial trading bots (3Commas, Pionex, Bitsgap, Zignaly, or any other platform)
• Custom-built algorithmic strategies
• Copy trading (copying another trader's positions via a signal service)
• Grid bots and DCA bots
• Arbitrage strategies (including funding rate arbitrage)
• Market-making bots on wider-spread pairs

You do not need to notify Dolvero that you are running automation. You do not need to submit your bot for review. You do not need to disclose your strategy. The only requirement is that the trades your bot executes comply with the challenge rules — the same rules that apply to manual trading.

Rules That Apply Equally to Bots and Manual Traders

1. Maximum Risk Per Trade: 2% of Account Balance

The 2% risk-per-trade rule applies to every position opened on the challenge account, regardless of whether it was opened manually or by a bot. This rule is typically calculated as: (distance from entry to stop-loss) × (position size in USD notional) ≤ 2% of current account balance.

For automated strategies, this means your position sizing module must account for the current challenge account balance dynamically — not a fixed notional size. As your account grows during a successful challenge, 2% of balance grows with it. As your account shrinks after losses, the 2% ceiling shrinks accordingly.

Grid bots require particular attention here. A grid strategy that opens 10 simultaneous positions of $500 each on a $10,000 account is effectively a 5% risk position if all orders are on the same side and price moves through all grid levels simultaneously. Configure your grid bots with total exposure in mind, not per-order size.

2. Daily Loss Limit: 4% (2-Step) or 3% (1-Step)

The daily loss limit resets at 00:00 UTC. Your bot must monitor cumulative daily P&L relative to the starting balance at 00:00 UTC and halt trading before hitting the limit. Recommended practice: program a 0.5% safety buffer — halt new orders when daily loss reaches 3.5% (on 2-step) or 2.5% (on 1-step) to absorb any open position slippage.

For bots running 24/7, this means implementing a daily reset and P&L tracking cycle synchronized to 00:00 UTC. If your bot does not have this logic and trades continuously without daily P&L awareness, it is at high risk of breaching the daily limit during a volatile session.

3. Maximum Drawdown: 6% from Initial Balance

The maximum drawdown limit applies to the lowest point of equity at any moment — not just at position close. If your bot opens a position and mark-to-market equity drops by 6% before the position closes, that is a breach event even if the position later recovers.

This means your bot must monitor floating unrealized P&L alongside closed P&L. The combined open + closed P&L drawdown from initial balance must never exceed 6% (2-step) or trigger the trailing floor on 1-step.

4. Consistency Rule: No Single Day > 15% of Total Profit

If your bot has a high variance in daily returns — occasionally hitting very large winning days — the consistency rule may create friction at payout time. The rule does not prevent large winning days; it prevents a situation where a single day's P&L represents more than 15% of the total profit at the time you request your payout.

For most systematic bots with consistent position sizing, this rule is not constraining. For bots that occasionally take oversized positions during high-confidence setups, monitor daily P&L distribution relative to total challenge P&L as you approach the profit target.

5. Inactivity Rule: No 7 Consecutive Days Without a Trade

If your bot runs on a low-frequency strategy (e.g., weekly rebalancing, or a signal-based bot that waits for specific conditions), make sure it places at least one trade every 7 days during an active challenge. The inactivity rule is not about trade volume — a single small trade every 6 days satisfies the requirement.

If your strategy legitimately goes dormant for more than 7 days due to market conditions, contact Dolvero support in advance to discuss the situation.

What Is Explicitly Prohibited

The following automated behaviors will result in immediate account termination regardless of whether they are executed by a bot or manually:

1. Balance Manipulation via demo-apply-money

Bybit's Demo API includes an endpoint (POST /v5/account/demo-apply-money) that allows users to add simulated funds to their demo account. Using this endpoint during an active Dolvero challenge is explicitly prohibited.

Dolvero monitors for balance jumps that are not explained by trading activity. If your Bybit demo wallet balance increases by an amount inconsistent with your trade history (i.e., you did not earn it through profitable trades), the account will be flagged and terminated.

This applies whether the balance top-up is executed manually by you, triggered by a bot accidentally, or done deliberately. If you are using a bot that has the Bybit API integrated with any write permissions, verify it does not have the ability to call this endpoint.

2. Connecting a Different Demo Account Mid-Challenge

Each Dolvero challenge is permanently tied to the Bybit demo account UID that was connected at the time of the first API key link. If your original demo account is somehow reset or you attempt to reconnect with a different Bybit account (same or different user), the system will flag this as a UID mismatch.

A different UID = immediate account termination. There is no appeal for UID mismatch violations because the rule is structural — one challenge, one account, no substitutions.

3. Coordinated Multi-Account Trading

Operating multiple Dolvero challenge accounts simultaneously and running correlated or hedged positions across them is prohibited. This includes running the same bot on two different challenge accounts, or running inverse positions across accounts to eliminate net market risk while satisfying both challenges' profit targets.

Detection: Dolvero monitors for accounts belonging to the same user that show correlated trade timing, similar position sizes, and symmetric P&L patterns.

Common Bot Setups and Their Compliance Status

Building a Compliant Bot: Technical Checklist

If you are building a custom bot for a Dolvero crypto challenge, use this checklist before going live:

• ☐ Position sizing module calculates risk as % of current challenge balance (not fixed notional)
• ☐ Daily P&L tracker resets at 00:00 UTC and halts new orders at 3.5% loss (2-step) or 2.5% loss (1-step)
• ☐ Floating P&L monitor tracks open position mark-to-market against drawdown limit
• ☐ Bot does NOT call /v5/account/demo-apply-money
• ☐ Bot uses read-only API key for data, separate trading API key for execution (if applicable)
• ☐ Bot has a heartbeat / activity mechanism ensuring at least one trade per 6 days
• ☐ Grid bot: total grid exposure calculated as aggregate notional, not per-order size
• ☐ Error handling: bot halts on API errors rather than entering recovery loop that could violate rules
• ☐ Logging: all orders and P&L logged locally for cross-reference with Dolvero dashboard

Using TTerminal Signals to Drive Bot Logic

Starting April 19, 2026, funded Dolvero traders have free access to TTerminal — including its 37 ML model outputs via a structured API. Several TTerminal data points are directly usable as bot signal inputs:

• TITUS sentiment scores: Real-time sentiment scoring per asset, updated continuously. High negative sentiment divergence from price can signal mean-reversion setups.
• MARS geopolitical risk score: Elevated risk scores can trigger risk-off position sizing — reduce leverage when geopolitical risk is elevated.
• Regime detection model: Classify whether the market is in trend, range, or high-volatility regime and switch bot logic accordingly.
• Correlation matrix: Identify when multiple positions have become highly correlated and trigger position reduction to stay within effective risk limits.

Building TTerminal intelligence into your bot's decision layer is a legitimate and encouraged use of the tool. See the full TTerminal model breakdown for API access details.

Summary

Run your bot. You do not need permission. But build it to comply with the challenge rules — 2% risk per trade, daily loss monitoring, drawdown tracking, consistency awareness, and absolutely no balance manipulation. The rules are the same whether a human or an algorithm is executing the trades. The accountability is yours either way.

Questions about a specific bot setup's compliance? Contact our team with a description of your strategy mechanics and we will tell you if anything in the design conflicts with challenge rules.

Ready to start a crypto challenge? View challenge options here.