How to Connect Your Bybit Demo to Dolvero: A Step-by-Step API Guide

After purchasing a Dolvero crypto challenge, you will need to connect your Bybit Demo account via a read-only API key. This process takes approximately 10 minutes and requires no technical background. This guide covers every step, including common mistakes and how to avoid them.

Before You Start: What You Will Need

• A Dolvero account with an active crypto challenge purchase
• A Bybit account (or you will create one in Step 1)
• About 10 minutes
• Your phone for 2FA verification

The connection uses a read-only API key. This key allows Dolvero to read your position data, trade history, and account balance — it does not allow Dolvero to place orders, cancel positions, or withdraw funds on your behalf. Your trading account remains under your full control at all times.

Step 1: Create Your Bybit Account (Skip if You Already Have One)

1. Go to bybit.com and click "Sign Up"
2. Register with your email address and create a password
3. Verify your email address via the confirmation link Bybit sends
4. Complete basic identity verification (required for demo API access): navigate to Account & Security → Identity Verification → complete Level 1 (name + ID document upload)
5. Enable Google Authenticator or SMS 2FA — required for API key creation

Important: Bybit requires at least Level 1 identity verification to create API keys, even for demo accounts. This is Bybit's requirement, not Dolvero's. The verification typically processes in a few minutes.

Step 2: Enable Demo Trading on Your Bybit Account

1. Log into your Bybit account
2. In the top navigation bar, locate the "Demo Trading" option (it may appear as a toggle or tab depending on your region and interface version)
3. Click "Try Demo Trading" or equivalent — Bybit creates a demo sub-environment linked to your account
4. Your demo account comes pre-loaded with simulated funds: typically 50,000 USDT + 50,000 USDC + 1 BTC + 1 ETH. You do not need to add funds — the challenge balance is defined by Dolvero, not by the demo wallet amount.

Note on demo balance: The simulated wallet balance you see in Bybit demo does not equal your challenge account size. Dolvero tracks your trading performance from the moment you connect your API key and sets your starting equity baseline at that point. The challenge rules (profit targets, drawdown limits) are calculated relative to this Dolvero-defined baseline, not the raw Bybit demo wallet balance.

Step 3: Create a Read-Only API Key on Your Bybit Demo Account

This is the most critical step. You must create the API key specifically in the demo environment, not on your live Bybit account.

1. While in demo mode on Bybit, navigate to: Account & Security → API Management
2. Verify you are in Demo mode — the header should indicate "Demo Trading" or similar. If you are on the live API management page, the key you create will not have access to demo account data.
3. Click "Create New Key"
4. Select key type: API Transaction (not "System-generated")
5. Set permissions — select only the following:
   • ✅ Read — Account (balance, positions)
   • ✅ Read — Order (trade history)
   • ❌ Trade — do NOT enable
   • ❌ Withdraw — do NOT enable
   • ❌ Transfer — do NOT enable
6. IP restriction: Leave blank (no IP restriction) unless you are running your connection from a fixed IP address
7. Name the key something identifiable, e.g., "Dolvero-Challenge-ReadOnly"
8. Complete 2FA verification (Google Authenticator or SMS code)
9. Bybit will display your API Key and API Secret — copy both immediately. The secret is shown only once. Store both securely.

Common mistake: Creating the API key on the live account instead of the demo environment. If Dolvero cannot connect to your demo data, the most common cause is that the API key was created under live account settings. Delete the live key and repeat the process in demo mode.

Second common mistake: Enabling write or trade permissions on the API key. Dolvero requires read-only access. If you accidentally enable trade permissions, your key is still functional for Dolvero's purposes, but you are granting more access than required. For security, recreate the key with read-only permissions.

Step 4: Connect the API Key to Your Dolvero Challenge

1. Log into your Dolvero account at app.dolvero.com
2. Navigate to your active crypto challenge account (Dashboard → Evaluations → select your crypto challenge)
3. Click "Connect Bybit Account" or similar — the exact UI element depends on your dashboard version
4. Enter:
   • API Key: The key string Bybit provided (starts with a letter, approximately 18 characters)
   • API Secret: The secret string Bybit provided (longer string, shown only once at creation)
5. Click "Verify Connection" — Dolvero will test the API key by making a read request to your Bybit demo account
6. If successful, you will see your Bybit demo account balance confirmed and your challenge account status will update to "Active"
7. Your challenge starting equity is recorded at this moment

Step 5: Verify Everything Is Working

Before placing your first trade, confirm the following in your Dolvero dashboard:

• Challenge status shows "Active" (not "Awaiting Connection")
• Starting balance is recorded and visible
• Current P&L shows 0.00 (or very small floating P&L if markets moved during connection)
• Daily loss limit and drawdown floor are displayed correctly
• The instrument panel shows "Bybit Demo" as the connected platform

If any of these elements are missing or show incorrect values, do not start trading. Open a support ticket at app.dolvero.com/help with your Bybit account UID and the API key name you created, and the team will diagnose the connection issue.

Step 6: Place Your First Trade

Your challenge clock starts on your first executed trade. To place a trade:

1. Open Bybit's demo trading interface (web or app)
2. Navigate to Derivatives → USDT Perpetual
3. Select your instrument (e.g., BTC/USDT)
4. Set your position size, leverage, and order type
5. Execute the order
6. Return to your Dolvero dashboard — the trade should appear in your trade history within 1–2 minutes

Dolvero syncs your Bybit demo trade data periodically. There is typically a 1–3 minute delay between order execution on Bybit and the trade appearing in your Dolvero dashboard. Real-time equity calculations use the latest available data.

Troubleshooting: Common Connection Problems

"Invalid API Key" error

This occurs when the key was created on the live Bybit account instead of the demo environment, or when there is a typo in the key or secret. Verify you are copying the full string without leading/trailing spaces, and confirm the key was created under Demo Trading in Bybit's interface.

"Insufficient Permissions" error

The API key does not have the required read permissions. Delete the current key on Bybit and create a new one with both Account (Read) and Order (Read) permissions enabled.

Connection successful but no balance shown

The demo account may not have been properly initialized on Bybit's side. Try navigating to the Bybit demo trading interface directly and executing any action (even viewing the order book) to trigger demo account initialization, then retry the Dolvero connection.

Balance shown but trades not syncing

Dolvero syncs trade history from the moment of connection. If you placed trades before connecting your API key, those trades will not appear in your challenge history. Any trades before the API connection date are not counted for challenge purposes — your baseline is set at connection time.

Keeping Your API Key Secure

Although the Dolvero API key is read-only and cannot be used to withdraw funds or place trades, it is still credentials that access your account data. Basic hygiene:

• Do not share your API key or secret with anyone
• Do not paste your key into Discord, Telegram, or any public channel
• If you believe your key has been compromised, delete it immediately on Bybit and create a new one, then update it in your Dolvero dashboard
• Each challenge account requires its own API key — do not reuse the same key across multiple challenge accounts

Next Steps After Connection

With your Bybit demo connected and challenge active:

• Review the full crypto challenge rules before your first substantive trade
• Set up your risk parameters in your trading system — 2% max risk per trade, within 4% daily loss ceiling
• Familiarize yourself with the funding fee schedule (00:00, 08:00, 16:00 UTC) if you plan to hold overnight positions
• Access TTerminal (available April 19) for market intelligence to support your trading decisions

Need help with any step? Open a support ticket and include your Bybit UID and the specific step where you encountered the issue.