Trading Strategies for Traders: From Scalping to Swing

Many traders are sure they trade by intuition, although in reality each of their actions still forms a certain strategy. When an approach lacks structure and rules, trading turns into chaos and leads to the loss of the deposit. A conscious strategy helps bring order, reduce the influence of emotions, and understand why decisions are made.

In this article you will learn:

• what types of trading strategies exist and how they work in the cryptocurrency market;
• how to choose an approach that matches your experience and trading style;
• how to turn a strategy into a system that helps preserve capital and control risk.

If you haven’t read the previous materials in the series, we recommend starting with the basics:

Technical Analysis: how to read charts and find entry points.

Fundamental Analysis: how to evaluate cryptocurrencies and find promising projects.

This knowledge will help you better understand how crypto trading strategies are formed and what they are built on.

A trading strategy is a system of rules that helps make decisions consciously, using facts and analysis rather than emotions. It sets the order of actions, explains when to open a trade, when to exit it, and what risk can be managed. A strategy is not a buy signal but a consistent plan that helps maintain discipline and eliminate random decisions.

For example, a trader may buy a coin near a support level when the RSI value drops below 30 and take profit when the price reaches the resistance zone. This approach helps act rationally and reduces the influence of emotions. Without a well-thought-out strategy, trading turns into a casino, and in a volatile market this often ends in capital loss.

Any workable strategy has several mandatory components. Without them, trading becomes unpredictable.

Here are the main elements:

• a setup, i.e., the moment or conditions under which a trade is opened, for example confirmation of a signal by RSI or a level retest;
• an exit point, where profit or loss is fixed;
• a risk management strategy that determines the acceptable loss per trade;
• a timeframe, which affects the speed of decision-making;
• psychology, because even the best system does not work without discipline.

If all the elements are connected into a single scheme, trading becomes a controllable process. This helps maintain a balance between the desire to earn and the need to protect capital.

There are dozens of trading methods, but they all boil down to several proven approaches. Each of them reflects a certain way of thinking and attitude to risk. Some traders prefer to act quickly and catch short-term price moves, while others build positions based on fundamental data and are ready to wait for weeks.

According to Binance Research, more than 70 percent of retail traders choose short timeframes, but only 25 percent of them show stable profits. The rest switch to medium-term strategies, where there is less noise and higher signal accuracy.

Below we will look at five key directions most commonly used in the crypto market.

Crypto scalping is based on a multitude of short trades that are opened and closed within a few minutes. The trader looks for the slightest moves within 0.1–0.5 percent and repeats them dozens of times a day. The goal is not one big profit but the accumulation of many small results.

For scalping to be profitable, high liquidity and low fees are required. On pairs like TRX/USDT or BTC/USDT, the spread is minimal, and order execution takes fractions of a second. The average volume of such operations on Binance and OKX in 2025 exceeds 1.2 billion dollars per day, which provides enough opportunities for entries and exits.

This strategy requires concentration and discipline. The slightest distraction can lead to a loss. Scalping suits those who feel the market well and can react quickly to signals.

The main advantages are fast feedback and the ability to quickly assess results. The main risks are high workload and emotional burnout, especially when the market shows strong volatility.

Day trading crypto implies holding a position for one trading day. All trades are closed by the end of the day to avoid overnight swings and unexpected news.

According to CoinMetrics, about 40 percent of active traders on the largest exchanges work in this format. It combines technical analysis, news, and an understanding of market sentiment.

Day trading is especially effective during periods of high activity, when news about listings, network upgrades, or project reports is released. For example, the publication of an update on the Solana network or the integration of a new DeFi protocol on TRON can trigger short-term growth that lasts several hours.

It is important to monitor entry and exit timing here. The average profit in one successful trade is from 1 to 2 percent, but if rules are violated, the risk of loss can be higher. Therefore, day trading suits those who are ready to spend several hours at the terminal and react quickly to changes. In foreign guides, this style is described as day trading crypto; it’s useful to read checklists on time and risk management for this format.

Swing trading, simply put, is trading based on moves that last from 2 to 10 days. This format allows you to catch a medium-term wave and requires less emotional strain than trading on short timeframes.

In this strategy, the trader combines technical and fundamental analysis, evaluates charts, support levels and volumes, and also tracks news and project activity. For example, an increase in TVL in the TRON network or the publication of an Ethereum report on fee reductions can serve as a signal to open a position. According to Kaiko, in 2024–2025 the average profitability of swing traders was from 8 to 15 percent per month with a moderate level of risk.

This method suits those who cannot constantly monitor the market but want to participate in significant price moves. The basic rule is to work in the direction of the trend. When the market is rising, look for entries on pullbacks; when it is falling, open short positions on corrections. In English-language sources, this approach is known as swing trading crypto, and under this query you can find many analytical materials and successful cases.

Position trading is aimed at long-term moves that develop over several weeks or even months. This approach is closer to investing but still retains elements of active management.

Decisions are made based on fundamental factors rather than short-term price fluctuations. For example, an increase in the number of active addresses in the TRON network or a rise in the share of USDT TRC-20 in circulation may indicate that the ecosystem is becoming more robust.

In 2025, the average holding period for such traders ranges from 2 weeks to 3 months, and volatility on daily charts does not play a key role, since the priority is the direction of the global trend. Position trading requires patience and confidence in one’s analysis. This method suits those who combine trading with other activities and are not ready to spend a lot of time in front of a monitor.

According to Messari, the average annual return of long-term traders who use fundamental and technical analysis together is about 25 percent with a moderate level of risk. This format is often called long term trading crypto, and it is important to regularly check a project’s fundamentals to ensure it remains resilient and relevant.

Algorithmic crypto trading is developing especially fast. In 2025, more than 35 percent of trading volume on Binance and OKX is executed automatically. Bots analyze charts, indicators, and volumes and open positions without human participation.

The most popular strategies are based on RSI, moving averages, and Fibonacci levels. The algorithm reacts to signals instantly and eliminates emotional errors. This makes the method attractive to those who value precision and statistics.

However, setting up a trading bot requires experience. You need to account for execution latency, fees, and exchange conditions. Coding errors can lead to losses. Therefore, algorithmic trading suits advanced users who already understand the market’s structure and know how to work with APIs.

With proper setup, such a bot can deliver stable profits of 1 to 3 percent per day in moderate volatility, as confirmed by data from the analytical platforms 3Commas and BitQuant.

Each of these types of trading strategies has its advantages and limitations. Scalping and day trading require time and quick reactions but provide frequent feedback. Swing and position trading allow for more deliberate trading with less stress. Algorithmic trading provides precision and automation but requires technical skills.

The main thing is to choose an approach that matches your working pace and level of preparedness. Only discipline and competent risk management turn a strategy from a theoretical model into a robust, working system.

The choice of approach depends on experience, free time, and the level of stress a person is ready to handle. Beginners should avoid scalping and day trading because they require high concentration and experience. Choosing a strategy for beginners starts with calm timeframes and minimal risk; aggressive formats are better postponed until experience is gained.

It is optimal to start with swing trading. This format teaches you to observe charts and look for patterns without haste. For busy people, position trading is more suitable, where decisions are made once a week after analysis.

Before choosing a trading strategy, it is important to understand your own goals. If you want to receive small profits frequently, an active model is suitable. If the priority is preserving capital, you should choose long-term trades.

Success in trading depends not on speed but on consistency. Even one well-thought-out trade can be more effective than ten random ones.

Any strategy needs to be tested before using large capital. The safest way is to test a trading strategy on a demo account or with a small amount of funds. To see the real effectiveness of the approach, you should complete at least 30–50 trades for swing, ≥100 for intraday, and carefully study the statistics.

After each operation, it is useful to record the result in a trader’s trade journal, indicating the date, entry point, stop-loss, take-profit, and comments. Such a journal helps to notice patterns and make data-driven decisions. If the drawdown exceeds 10 percent, it is better to reconsider the trading parameters or reduce the risk per trade. Continuous testing turns a strategy into a reliable tool that can be applied in practice.

Fundamental and technical analysis help a trader view the market more broadly. One shows which assets deserve attention, and the other helps choose the entry moment. For example, if a project is developing, has an active community and sustainable tokenomics, this is considered a fundamental signal. When the chart confirms rising volumes and level holding, an entry opportunity appears. This combination of TA and FA makes trading well-thought-out and helps make decisions without rushing.

Even with a working model, many traders make the same mistakes.
They:

• act without a plan and make emotional decisions;
• ignore risk management and increase position size without calculation;
• change strategy after several losing trades;
• trade without rest and lose concentration;
• expect constant profits without analyzing statistics.

Trading without emotions is impossible, but you can control your reactions. It is important to remember that losses are part of the process and happen even to experienced market participants. A mistake does not become a problem if lessons are learned and actions are adjusted.

A strategy is not a magic formula; it is a personal system that helps you make decisions calmly and stick to the plan even in unpredictable market conditions. The main goal of a trader is not to find the perfect model but to be able to follow their own rules. The result depends not on the number of trades but on the consistency of the approach and proper risk management.

Constant work on the strategy helps turn the market’s chaotic movement into an orderly process. Even small improvements in discipline deliver noticeable progress. If you follow simple rules for crypto trading, predefine risk levels, verify signals, and keep statistics, the result will become more stable.

In the next article in the series, we will look at how emotions affect decisions and profits, and why no strategy works without discipline.