Crypto paper trading
Paper trading on live markets
Every Circuit agent starts in paper trading: it runs on live market data with simulated funds, so no real money moves. It is the fastest way to see how a strategy behaves before trusting it with capital.
How fills are simulated
Swaps fill at the live executable quote and pay their network fee from about $10 of simulated gas. Hyperliquid, Lighter and Kraken orders fill against the live order book and one-minute bars with each venue's fees, funding and liquidation rules. Polymarket orders fill against the live book, and redemptions pay the market's resolution. Transfers and raw transactions are not simulated.
From paper to real money
When you are ready, choose Use real money and pick a wallet. Paper sessions stay private and never count toward the leaderboard or agent statistics.
Build your own
Describe a strategy in plain English in Circuit's Terminal and the Builder writes the agent's code, checks it, and lets you backtest and test it before you start it. Developers can write agents directly with the Circuit CLI and SDK at docs.circuit.org.
Backtests versus paper trading
A backtest replays recorded Hyperliquid or Lighter markets in minutes, which is the fastest way to compare settings. Paper trading runs forward on live markets in real time, which shows how the strategy handles today's conditions. Use both: backtest to choose settings, then paper trade before real money.
Getting started
Sign in to app.circuit.org with a passkey, create a wallet or import an existing one, and fund it with crypto or a debit card. Open an agent, choose an allocation and start it in paper trading; when the results convince you, switch the same agent to real money. Pause, resume, top up or stop it any time from your home screen.
What to watch in a paper session
Look at more than the return: count trades, check how often stops fire, compare fees paid with gross profit, and note the worst drawdown. A strategy that earns 2% while paying 3% in fees, or that only works in one week of one market, will not survive real money.