Source Strategy at a glance
| Kind of rule | A rule of its own (rules-based) |
|---|---|
| Buys or sells | It can buy, and it can bet on falling prices. |
| Built on | price only |
| Where it was published | TradingView, by its author, as a Pine Script strategy |
| Tested on | 68 cells: 15 coins, October 2021 to June 2026, no fee |
| Cells that placed a trade | 66 of 68 |
| Middle result before fees | −99.7% |
| Cells above zero | 3 of 66 |
| Middle drawdown before fees | 104.4% |
| Page updated | 2026-11-08 |
Source Strategy backtest results, every cell
Every cell is in the picture, not only the strongest. To the right of the black line is above zero. The orange line, when you see one, is the middle.
How Source Strategy works
Rules in this group usually work like this. This one does not sit in the usual groups. The buy and sell lines below are what it is. Read it the same way as the others: what it assumes, how many trades it took, and what happened on many coins and chart speeds rather than on one. The next paragraph is this particular rule, which can be narrower than the group.
It can buy, and it can bet on falling prices. It acts only when several checks agree at once. The exact line is in the list below, in the author's names, and you can skip that list. When it enters, it also sets a stop or a target, so a trade can close without a new signal.
Each trade uses the whole account. It holds one trade at a time.
The exact condition, from the code
Same rule, translated from the code, in the author's names. You can skip this list if the paragraph above was enough.
- Enters long when Use Long Entry (on) and Long Source (close) differs from 0 and (not (Use Long Exclude (off)) or Long Exclude Source (close) equals 0) and (Use Long Entry With Position (off) or no position is open).
- Enters short when Use Short Entry (off) and Short Source (close) differs from 0 and (not (Use Short Exclude (off)) or Short Exclude Source (close) equals 0) and (Use Short Entry With Position (off) or no position is open).
- Places a stop at (the average entry price − (((the average entry price × the position size) × SL % (1)) / (100 × the position size))), a target at (the average entry price + (((the average entry price × the position size) × TP % (3)) / (100 × the position size))), a trailing stop when a long position is open and Use Stop Loss (on) and Use Take Profit (on).
- Places a stop at (the average entry price − (((the average entry price × the position size) × SL % (1)) / (100 × the position size))), a trailing stop when a long position is open and not (Use Stop Loss (on) and Use Take Profit (on)) and Use Stop Loss (on).
- Places a target at (the average entry price + (((the average entry price × the position size) × TP % (3)) / (100 × the position size))), a trailing stop when a long position is open and not (Use Stop Loss (on) and Use Take Profit (on)) and not (Use Stop Loss (on)) and Use Take Profit (on).
- Places a trailing stop when a long position is open and not (Use Stop Loss (on) and Use Take Profit (on)) and not (Use Stop Loss (on)) and not (Use Take Profit (on)) and Use Trailing Stop (off).
| Buys or sells | It can buy, and it can bet on falling prices. |
|---|---|
| Tools it calculates | price only |
| A second chart speed | No. It uses one chart speed only. |
| Only at certain hours | No. |
| Adding to a trade | It holds one trade at a time. |
| How much it trades | Each trade uses the whole account. |
| Cost the author assumed | The author assumed a trading cost of 0.05 percent per side. |
Default settings
The test used the defaults in the middle column. Nothing was turned to help a coin.
| Setting | Default | Group |
|---|---|---|
| Use Long Entry | on | |
| Long Source | close | |
| Use Long Exclude | off | |
| Long Exclude Source | close | |
| Use Long Entry With Position | off | |
| Use Short Entry | off | |
| Short Source | close | |
| Use Short Exclude | off | |
| Short Exclude Source | close | |
| Use Short Entry With Position | off | |
| Use Long Exit | off | |
| Long Exit Source | close | |
| Use Long Exit Exclude | off | |
| Long Exit Exclude Source | close | |
| Use Short Exit | off | |
| Short Exit Source | close | |
| Use Short Exit Exclude | off | |
| Short Exit Exclude Source | close | |
| Use Stop Loss | on | |
| SL % | 1 | |
| Use Take Profit | on | |
| TP % | 3 | |
| Use Trailing Stop | off | |
| Trail Points % | 3 |
and 1 more settings, left at the author's defaults.
How the backtest was run
Every strategy was tried the same way, on the settings the author published.
The years are October 2021 to June 2026. The prices are from Bybit, for 13 widely traded coins, mostly on hourly, 4-hour and daily charts, with some faster charts. That was 47,242 tries. The window stored in the files is 2021-09..2026-06.
599 rules produced a finished try. A rule that finished above zero on at least 12 cells, before any fee, was tried again with a fee of 0.12 percent per side. Only buys are counted in that second try. 273 rules got it.
The method, the aggregate results and a downloadable table are on the study page. What the desk does with the results beyond these pages is its own.
Before any fee, it was tried on 68 cells. It placed a trade on 66 of them. 3 of the cells that traded finished above zero (4.5%).
It was not run a second time with a fee. That second pass happens only when at least 12 cells finished above zero before fees. 273 rules got that pass.
| Cells tried | 68 |
|---|---|
| Cells that placed a trade | 66 |
| Finished above zero | 3 (4.5% of the cells that traded) |
| Middle result, before fees | −99.7% |
| Strongest cell, the top of the range | TRX 4-hour: +216.3% |
| Weakest cell, the bottom of the range | AAVE 5-minute: −100.0% |
| Middle drawdown, before fees | 104.4% |
Label: backtest · old prices, zero commission · Oct 2021 – Jun 2026. Hypothetical results; see the risk disclosure.
How to read the result
How to read the number
The median of every cell that traded is the result. No fee has been taken off, so the number is a ceiling. A fee comes off each trade, and this page does not guess that cost, because this rule did not get the second pass where the fee is applied. The weakest and the strongest cells are not a result on their own.
The middle drawdown, on the cells that traded, was 104.4%.
What this does not show
The useful question is what the rule assumes, how many trades it took, and what happened across coins and chart speeds rather than in one cell.
Nothing on this page was fit to the cell that finished highest. One coin, one chart speed, or one strong stretch is a single row. It is not the rule. Other years, another exchange, or another fee would be a different measurement.
Questions about Source Strategy
What is Source Strategy?
Source Strategy is a rules-based trading strategy published on TradingView as a Pine Script. In plain terms it is a rule of the kind this site calls a rule of its own. It can buy, and it can bet on falling prices. It is built on price only. This page reads the rules from the code and reports what they did on old crypto prices.
How does Source Strategy work?
It can buy, and it can bet on falling prices. It acts only when several checks agree at once. The exact line is in the list below, in the author's names, and you can skip that list. When it enters, it also sets a stop or a target, so a trade can close without a new signal.
Is Source Strategy profitable in a backtest?
Before any fee, 3 of 66 cells that traded finished above zero, and the median of those cells was −99.7%. No fee has been taken off, so that number is a ceiling. The rule did not reach the second pass where a fee is charged on every trade.
Where can I find the Source Strategy script?
It is published on TradingView by its author. Search TradingView for the title to find the original script. This page is an independent reading and is not affiliated with the author.
What does backtest mean on this page?
Backtest means the rule was replayed on old prices from Bybit. No real money moved. Every number on this page carries that label, and old prices do not promise anything about new ones.
Words used on this page
- Backtest
- The rule was tried on old prices. No real money moved.
- Cell
- One coin on one chart speed. Bitcoin every 4 hours is one cell. Bitcoin once a day is another.
- Chart speed
- How often a new price bar is drawn. 15m means every 15 minutes, 1h means hourly, 4h means every 4 hours, 1D means once a day.
- Fee, per side
- A cost taken each time the rule trades. Per side means once on the way in and once on the way out.
- Median
- Line the cells up from the biggest loss to the biggest gain. The median is the middle one. Half the cells did better and half did worse.
- Drawdown
- The deepest fall from a high point along the way, as a percent of the account at that high.
- Above zero
- The account finished with more than it started.
"Source Strategy" was published on TradingView by its author, under the author's own license. This page is an independent reading of those rules and of what they did on these old prices. It is not written with the author, and it is not a recommendation. Not every detail survives the translation onto this page, so read the original before you rely on it.