Strategy Lab | Ascension

🚀 Welcome to Ascension

Ascension is an automation-first trading platform. You build strategies, we run them. Every strategy goes through rigorous testing before it touches real markets. Here is how to get started.

Step 1: Explore Strategies

Visit the Strategies tab to browse existing strategies. Each card shows the strategy type, target market, timeframe, and performance metrics. You can filter by realm (Cipher for crypto, Sovereign for TradFi), asset type, and tier.

Step 2: Create Your Own

Click Create Strategy to build your own. Choose from templates or start from scratch. Pick your realm, asset type, signal type (EMA Cross, RSI, MACD, etc.), and configure parameters. The AI Assistant (bottom-right button) can help you pick the right settings.

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Basic Mode

Pick a strategy type, adjust parameters with sliders and inputs

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Advanced Mode

Build custom IF/THEN rules with 10+ indicators and 7 comparators

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Templates

Start from a proven template and customize to your style

Step 3: Backtest in the Test Lab

Go to the Test Lab to run your strategy against historical data. You will see an equity curve, drawdown chart, trade log, and key metrics like win rate, profit factor, and Sharpe ratio. This tells you how your strategy would have performed in the past — but remember, past performance does not guarantee future results.

Step 4: Validate

The Validation Lab stress-tests your strategy across multiple symbols and market regimes (bull, bear, sideways, high volatility). Choose a tier level — higher tiers require passing more tests. Validation includes multi-symbol testing, labeled period analysis, out-of-sample testing, walk-forward analysis, and Monte Carlo simulation.

Basic: 1 symbol, 30 trades Standard: 2 symbols, 100 trades Advanced: 3 symbols, 200 trades, 2 periods Grand Tactician: 5 symbols, 500 trades, 4 periods

Step 5: Deploy & Track

Once validated, deploy your strategy to a paper trading bot. The bot runs 24/7 on our infrastructure with your chosen parameters. Track performance on the Performance page — see live equity, P/L, session history, and active bots. You start with $10,000 paper equity and can reset anytime.

The Ascension Pipeline

Create

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Backtest

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Validate

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Deploy

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Track

⚠️ Understanding Risk

Every trade carries risk. Even the best strategies lose money sometimes. The goal is not to win every trade — it is to have a statistical edge over many trades. Risk management is what separates successful traders from gamblers.

Position Sizing

The 1-2% Rule

Never risk more than 1-2% of your total capital on a single trade. With $10,000, that means your maximum loss per trade should be $100-$200. This ensures you can survive a losing streak without being wiped out.

Kelly Criterion

A mathematical formula that calculates optimal position size based on your win rate and average win/loss ratio. Most traders use half-Kelly (50% of the suggested size) for safety. Ascension strategies use conservative position sizing by default.

Stop Losses & Take Profits

Stop Loss (SL)

An automatic exit that limits your loss on a trade. If you buy BTC at $80,000 with a 2% SL, you exit at $78,400. Always use stop losses. A trade without a stop loss is a gamble, not a strategy.

Take Profit (TP)

An automatic exit that locks in profits. If you set a 3:1 reward-to-risk ratio with a 2% SL, your TP would be at 6%. This means you only need to win 1 out of 3 trades to break even.

Trailing Stop

A stop loss that moves with the price. If BTC rises 5%, your trailing stop moves up with it, protecting most of your gains while still giving the trade room to run.

Risk/Reward Ratio

How much you stand to gain versus lose. A 2:1 ratio means your potential profit is twice your potential loss. Most successful strategies aim for at least 1.5:1. Higher is better, but harder to achieve.

Common Mistakes

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Overtrading

Taking too many trades because you are bored or want to "make back" losses. Stick to your strategy. Bots help because they do not get emotional.

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Overfitting

Tuning parameters to perfectly fit historical data. A strategy that looks perfect on past data often fails on new data. Validation testing catches this.

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Ignoring Drawdowns

A strategy with 50% max drawdown means you could lose half your money before recovering. Even if the backtest shows overall profit, ask yourself: can you sit through watching half your account disappear?

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Curve Fitting to One Asset

A strategy that works on BTC might fail on ETH. Multi-symbol validation exists for this reason. If your strategy only works on one asset, it is fragile.

Crypto-Specific Risks

Leverage & Liquidation

Futures trading with leverage amplifies both gains and losses. 10x leverage means a 10% move wipes your position. Ascension futures strategies use conservative leverage (1-3x) with strict stop losses.

Volatility

Crypto markets move 5-10% in a day routinely. What would be a month of movement in stocks can happen in hours with crypto. Strategies need wider stop losses and faster timeframes to adapt.

Memecoin Risk

Memecoins can lose 90%+ of their value in minutes. They are high-risk, high-reward assets. Only allocate money you can afford to lose completely. Our meme strategies use aggressive exit rules to limit damage.

24/7 Markets

Crypto never sleeps. Major moves can happen at 3 AM on a Sunday. This is exactly why automated bots matter — they watch the market so you do not have to. Set your strategy and live your life.

📊 Performance Metrics

Sharpe Ratio

Measures risk-adjusted returns. Compares your strategy return (minus risk-free rate) to its volatility. Above 1.0 = good, above 2.0 = excellent. A high Sharpe means consistent returns relative to the risk taken.

Sortino Ratio

Like Sharpe but only penalizes downside volatility. A strategy that swings up a lot but rarely drops would have a high Sortino. Above 1.5 = good, above 3.0 = excellent.

Max Drawdown

The largest peak-to-trough decline during the strategy run. If your portfolio went from $10,000 to $7,500, that is a 25% drawdown. Under 15% = conservative, under 30% = moderate.

Profit Factor

Gross profit divided by gross loss. Above 1.5 = profitable, above 2.0 = strong. A profit factor of 2.0 means you earn $2 for every $1 lost.

Win Rate

Percentage of trades that close in profit. Above 50% = decent, above 60% = good. Note: low win rate can still be profitable if winners are much larger than losers.

Calmar Ratio

Annual return divided by max drawdown. Measures how much return you get per unit of worst-case risk. Above 1.0 = good, above 3.0 = excellent.

📈 Signal Types

SMA / EMA Crossover

Buys when a short-term moving average crosses above a long-term one (golden cross), sells on the reverse (death cross). EMA reacts faster than SMA because it weights recent prices more.

RSI (Relative Strength Index)

Oscillator from 0-100 measuring momentum. Below 30 = oversold (buy signal), above 70 = overbought (sell signal). Works best in ranging markets.

MACD Crossover

Moving Average Convergence Divergence. Uses two EMAs and a signal line to identify momentum shifts. Crossover of MACD line above signal = buy, below = sell.

Bollinger Bands

Bands drawn 2 standard deviations above/below a moving average. Price touching lower band = potential buy (oversold), upper band = potential sell (overbought). Band width shows volatility.

Breakout / Volatility Breakout

Enters trades when price breaks above resistance or below support levels. Volatility breakout uses ATR (Average True Range) to set dynamic levels. Best in trending markets.

Mean Reversion

Bets that prices will return to their average. Buys when price drops significantly below the mean, sells when it rises above. Works best in sideways/ranging markets.

🔧 General Terms

Backtest

Running a strategy against historical data to see how it would have performed. Essential first step but not a guarantee of future results.

Validation

Multi-symbol, multi-regime stress testing. Tests a strategy across different market conditions (bull, bear, sideways, high volatility) to verify robustness.

Walk-Forward Analysis

Splits data into in-sample (training) and out-of-sample (testing) windows. Prevents overfitting by ensuring the strategy works on data it has never seen.

Monte Carlo Simulation

Randomizes trade order thousands of times to estimate the range of possible outcomes. Helps answer: how bad could this strategy perform under different luck scenarios?

Paper Trading

Simulated trading with fake money. All Ascension bots run on paper trading first to verify real-time performance before any real capital is risked.

Slippage & Fees

Real trading costs. Slippage is the difference between expected and actual execution price. Our validation engine simulates realistic fees (0.1% crypto, 0.01% stocks) and slippage.

🏆 Strategy Tier System

Strategies earn tier badges through validation. Higher tiers require testing across more symbols, market regimes, and historical periods.

🟢 Basic

Entry level. Tested on at least 3 symbols with 50+ trades each. Minimum 500 candles per test. Must pass at least 2 market regimes and 1 historical period. Minimum validation score: 40.

Reviewed by: Community Strategists

🔵 Advanced

Proven across broader conditions. Tested on 5+ symbols, 100+ trades each, 1000+ candles. Must pass 3 market regimes and 2 historical periods. Minimum validation score: 55.

Reviewed by: Community Strategists → forwarded to Grand Tacticians

🟣 Premium

Battle-tested. 8+ symbols, 200+ trades, 2000+ candles. All 4 market regimes passed and 3+ historical periods. Minimum validation score: 70. These strategies are considered deployment-ready.

Reviewed by: Grand Tacticians only

🏆 Grand Tactician Certified

The highest tier. Reserved for strategies validated by the Ascension team and Grand Tacticians with exceptional track records. These may be featured in official Ascension bots and featured in advanced deployments.

Reviewed by: Lord Chancellor + Grand Tactician Council

📤 Verification Workflow

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Private

Only you can see

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Submitted

In review queue

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In Review

Being evaluated

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✅

AF Validated

Official stamp earned

🎨 Color & Badge Guide

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Cyan / Neon Blue — Cipher Realm

Crypto assets: spot, futures, memecoins. The digital frontier.

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Gold — Sovereign Realm

Traditional finance: stocks, forex, bonds. The realm of legacy markets.

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Rose — The Archives

Template strategies and educational starting points. The ancient library of proven formations.

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Green — Verified / Positive

AF Validated strategies, profitable returns, positive metrics.

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Red — Warning / Negative

Losses, drawdowns, failed validation, rejected strategies.

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Purple — Premium / Locked

Premium tier strategies, locked content requiring access keys or subscription.

🏷️ Status Badges

basic Entry-level validated

advanced Multi-regime tested

✅ AF Validated Officially validated by Ascension Finance

👑 Team Ascension team approved — highest validation tier

🌐 community Shared freely, open to all

draft Work in progress

published Visible to community

Equity Curve

Drawdown

Trade Log

Select Strategy

⬡ YOUR CAPITAL POOL

🛡 RISK PROFILE

🔔 NOTIFICATION PREFERENCES

Strategy Assistant