Kraken Grid Trading

kraken-grid-trading

Use this skill for:

• placing a grid of limit orders across a price range
• profiting from sideways/ranging markets
• managing grid state (filled orders, replacements)
• paper-testing grid parameters before live deployment

Core Concept

Grid trading places buy orders below the current price and sell orders above it at fixed intervals. When a buy fills, a corresponding sell is placed one grid level higher. When a sell fills, a corresponding buy is placed one grid level lower. Profit comes from capturing the spread at each level.

Grid Parameters

Define before starting:

• Pair: e.g., BTCUSD
• Range: lower bound to upper bound (e.g., 55000-65000)
• Grid levels: number of orders (e.g., 10)
• Order size: volume per grid level (e.g., 0.001 BTC)

Grid spacing = (upper - lower) / grid levels.

Paper Grid Test

Always test in paper mode first:

kraken paper init --balance 10000 -o json 2>/dev/null

# Place buy grid below current price
kraken paper buy BTCUSD 0.001 --type limit --price 58000 -o json 2>/dev/null
kraken paper buy BTCUSD 0.001 --type limit --price 57000 -o json 2>/dev/null
kraken paper buy BTCUSD 0.001 --type limit --price 56000 -o json 2>/dev/null

# Place sell grid above current price
kraken paper sell BTCUSD 0.001 --type limit --price 62000 -o json 2>/dev/null
kraken paper sell BTCUSD 0.001 --type limit --price 63000 -o json 2>/dev/null
kraken paper sell BTCUSD 0.001 --type limit --price 64000 -o json 2>/dev/null

kraken paper orders -o json 2>/dev/null
kraken paper status -o json 2>/dev/null

Live Grid Placement

1. Read current price to center the grid:

   kraken ticker BTCUSD -o json 2>/dev/null
   

2. Calculate grid levels (agent logic).
3. Validate each order:

   kraken order buy BTCUSD 0.001 --type limit --price 58000 --validate -o json 2>/dev/null
   

4. Place orders (requires human approval for the full grid):

   kraken order buy BTCUSD 0.001 --type limit --price 58000 -o json 2>/dev/null
   kraken order buy BTCUSD 0.001 --type limit --price 57000 -o json 2>/dev/null
   # ... remaining grid levels
   

5. Use batch orders when placing 2-15 orders:

   kraken order batch grid-orders.json --pair BTCUSD --validate -o json 2>/dev/null
   kraken order batch grid-orders.json --pair BTCUSD -o json 2>/dev/null
   

Grid Maintenance Loop

Monitor fills and replace completed orders:

1. Check open orders:

   kraken open-orders -o json 2>/dev/null
   

2. Check recent trades for fills:

   kraken trades-history -o json 2>/dev/null
   

3. For each filled buy at level N, place a sell at level N+1.
4. For each filled sell at level N, place a buy at level N-1.

Stream executions for real-time fill detection:

kraken ws executions -o json 2>/dev/null

Grid Shutdown

Cancel all grid orders cleanly:

kraken order cancel-all -o json 2>/dev/null

Or cancel specific orders by TXID:

kraken order cancel-batch <TXID1> <TXID2> <TXID3> -o json 2>/dev/null

Risk Considerations

• Grid trading profits in ranging markets but loses in strong trends.
• If price moves below the entire grid, the agent accumulates the asset at a loss.
• If price moves above the entire grid, the agent sells all holdings and misses further upside.
• Set stop-loss boundaries outside the grid range to limit downside.

Hard Rules

• Never place a live grid without explicit human approval.
• Paper-test every grid configuration before live deployment.
• Enable cancel-after for unattended grid sessions.
• Track total grid P&L, not just individual level fills.
• Cancel the entire grid before adjusting parameters; do not leave orphaned orders.