Scaling to Live: The Final Checklist

Goal

Establish the final, complete checklist for transitioning from paper bot to live trading — ensuring every element of the strategy has been validated before real capital is at risk.

Mistake This Prevents

Going live "because it's time" rather than because specific, objective criteria have been verified — and discovering mid-drawdown that a critical element was not ready.

The Pre-Live Deployment Checklist

Section A: Strategy Validation

• Backtest completed with minimum 30 trades across 2+ market phases
• Walk-forward efficiency ≥ 0.5 (out-of-sample validation passed)
• Profit factor ≥ 1.5 in backtest (combined)
• Profit factor ≥ 1.0 in bear market phase specifically
• Maximum drawdown ≤ 25% in backtest

Section B: Paper Bot Performance

• Paper bot run for minimum 8 weeks (two full iteration cycles)
• Paper bot profit factor ≥ 1.3 (acceptable live performance threshold)
• Override rate < 10% (you follow the bot's signals ≥ 90% of the time)
• No systematic override patterns (not skipping signals after losses)
• Execution gap between bot and manual paper trading ≤ 15%

Section C: Regime Confirmation

• Current market is in the strategy's "deploy" regime (per the deployment rule from Module 17)
• On-chain score: ≥ 2/3 bullish (or neutral — not bearish)
• Derivatives score: Funding not extreme; OI + price aligned
• Not within 48 hours of a major macro event

Section D: Risk Framework

• Three-level risk framework written and accessible
• Maximum 1% risk per trade calculated for live capital
• Stop-loss orders protocol tested (OCO or equivalent on chosen exchange)
• India VDA tax records system ready (spreadsheet or ClearTax Crypto)

Section E: Capital and Exchange

• Live capital amount determined (starting with 20% of planned allocation)
• Exchange account verified (KYC complete)
• Sufficient stablecoins on exchange for first 3 trades at planned size
• Order types tested on exchange (place and cancel test limit and stop orders)

The Go-Live Ceremony When all sections are checked:

• Take a 24-hour reflection period (do not go live immediately after completing the checklist)
• Write a 1-paragraph "going live" statement summarising your strategy, risk rules, and how you will respond to the first loss
• Share with an accountability partner (trading community, mentor, friend)

Checklist

• All five sections A–E completed
• 24-hour reflection completed
• Going-live statement written and shared

Common Mistakes

• Going live during a major market event week
• Not testing order types on the live exchange before deploying (discovering the OCO doesn't work during your first trade)
• Skipping the 24-hour reflection — the statement forces you to confront the plan for the first loss

Fedha Tool Tie-in

FedhaAcademy's Pre-Live Checklist is built into the platform. Each of the five sections must be marked complete before the system generates a "Live Deployment Approval" certificate — the final credential before Module 18 completion.