50/200 SMA crosslong
Backtest Results @ BTCUSDT β€’ Daily

The Moving Average Crossover strategy uses two moving averages of different periods to generate buy and sell signals. It appoximates the idea of a trending market by using 2 SMAs, one short fast SMA(50) and another slow longer SMA(200). It buys whenever a short SMA(50) crosses up a long SMA(200), thereby implying that the direction of the market has changed. It sells once a short SMA(50) crosses down a long SMA(200). These are fairly long MAs, which means that this strategy is naturalyl meant to capture bigger moves, and thereby might not be a good fit for short time frames. But assumptions like that do not mean anything, because we've backested it! See youself.

Equity Curve

Backtest covers 5.8 years of BTCUSDT β€’ Daily (Bitcoin vs Tether, Binance US) data, from October 8, 2019 to July 11, 2025.

Equity curve is the strategy's performance over time. You should compare it to the asset's Buy & Hold performance. In general, you want the blue area to be well above the gray area.

Drawdown is how much losses (realized or unrealized) the strategy has had if compared to the highest equity peak. Compare this to the asset's drawdown to see whether your strategy does a decent job of isolating you from downside volatility. In general, the red area must be well within the gray area.

Equity Curve
Strategy
Asset
Strategy Drawdown
Asset Drawdown

So, we have backtested 50/200 SMA cross on 5.8 years of BTCUSDT β€’ Daily candles.Β This backtest resulted in 6 positions, with the average win rate of 83% and reward-risk ratio of 7.27.Β If you assume that 7.27 reward-to-risk ratio holds, you need a minimum win rate of 12.1 to be profitable. So you're looking good so far.Β However, 6 positions is a small sample size, so take the results with a huge grain of salt.Β The key metrics are as follows:

  1. Total Return: Total Return: 638.70% vs 1337.50% for the asset
  2. Max Drawdown: Max Drawdown: -61.10% vs -76.60% for the asset
  3. Exposure: Exposure: 58.80% time in the market
  4. Win Rate: Win Rate: 83.0%, vs 12.1% minimum
  5. Reward/Risk Ratio: Reward/Risk Ratio: 7.27

With that exposure in mind, you can tell that for 59% time-in-market, you get 47.75% of the asset upside potential, and 79.77% of the asset downside potential.

50/200 SMA cross: enter a position when

All of the following: # "Papa"
  D Simple Moving Average (50, 0, close) Crosses β†— D Simple Moving Average (200, 0, close)

50/200 SMA cross: exit a position when

All of the following: # "India"
  D Simple Moving Average (50, 0, close) Crosses β†˜ D Simple Moving Average (200, 0, close)

50/200 SMA cross @ BTCUSDT β€’ Daily (638.7%) backtest results explained by Alex C, Mike, Sarah

Alex C

Author

The backtest shows some interesting characteristics, but I am not very convinced by these results. The main problem I see is the very low number of trades - only 6 trades over 5.8 years. This makes the statistical significance quite questionable, even though the win rate looks good at first glance.

The risk metrics are not particularly impressive. A Sharpe ratio of 0.70 is below what I would consider acceptable for a trading strategy, especially in crypto markets. The maximum drawdown of 61.1% is also concerning - this kind of drawdown could be psychologically very difficult to handle in real trading, even if the strategy eventually recovers. What is also worth noting is that the strategy underperforms buy & hold by quite a margin (638.7% vs 1337.5%).

From a mathematical perspective, while the Risk/Reward ratio of 7.27 looks good on paper, I would be very careful about putting too much weight on these numbers given the tiny sample size. The strategy also shows very low trading frequency with only 0.2 trades per month - this makes it difficult to rely on the law of large numbers to smooth out variance. I would want to see at least 100 trades before making any serious conclusions about the strategy's statistical validity.

Mike

Author

Yo fam, this 50/200 SMA cross strategy on BTC is giving some pretty interesting vibes! πŸš€ Those numbers are actually kinda fire, even though it's not beating buy & hold (but hey, who does in a mega bull run? πŸ˜…).

What's super sweet here is that 83% win rate with a crazy 7.27 risk/reward ratio - that's the kind of setup that makes my Wendy's paycheck dreams go wild! The strategy only needs a 12.1% win rate to break even, and we're crushing that by like 70% more than needed. That's some serious cushioning for when the market decides to get spicy! 🌢️

But keeping it real though - only 6 trades over almost 6 years is pretty low-key, almost too low-key. πŸ’€ And that 61% max drawdown is no joke - you'd need diamond hands to hold through that kind of dip. But hey, if you're looking for a long-term, low-maintenance strategy that keeps you in during the big moves while protecting you from some of the worst dumps, this might be worth a closer look! Just remember to size those positions right, because when you're only getting a few trades, each one needs to count! πŸ’ŽπŸ™Œ

Sarah

Author

This strategy is absolute garbage, and I'm shocked anyone would even consider it. Let me tell you why, amigo.

First of all, only 6 trades in almost 6 years? Are you kidding me? That's pathetically low - you're basically sitting on your hands doing nothing most of the time. And despite all that waiting, you still managed to underperform buy & hold by almost 700%! That's embarassing, mi amigo.

The win rate looks impressive at 83%, but it's meaningless with such a tiny sample size. It's like saying you're a professional football player because you scored 5 goals out of 6 shots in your backyard. And that 61% maximum drawdown? Madre mΓ­a! You might as well go to the casino - at least they give you free drinks while you lose your money.

The most ridiculous part is the market exposure of only 58.8%. You're missing out on nearly half the market moves while still eating massive drawdowns. This is like trying to cross the street with your eyes closed half the time - stupid and dangerous.

Look, if you want to throw away money, there are faster ways to do it. This strategy is slow torture. The sample size is too small, the drawdowns are too big, and the performance is inferior to simply buying and holding. Back to the drawing board, por favor.

Tabular metrics of 50/200 SMA cross backtested on BTCUSDT β€’ Daily

Total Trades6Net Profit638.7%Buy & Hold Profit1337.5%
Win Rate83%Reward/Risk Ratio7.27Max Drawdown-61.1%
Asset Max Drawdown-76.6%Exposure58.8%Avg Candles in Position204.3
Sharpe Ratio0.70Sortino Ratio1.07Realized Volatility38.80%
Max Winning Streak4Avg Winning Streak2.5Max Losing Streak1
Avg Losing Streak1.0Avg Trades per Month0.2Avg Trades per Day0.0
Return Std Dev98.4Loss Std DevWin Std Dev103.6
Expectancy5.9Beta0.53

All backtests for 50/200 SMA cross

backtestexposurepeformance vs assetdrawdown vs assetwin%reward/risk
BTCUSDT β€’ 1 Minute
57%(5.4%/8.9%) 0.61x(-2.0%/-1.9%) 1.05x395.4
EURUSD β€’ 1 Minute
61%(-1.1%/-1.0%) 1.10x(-1.2%/-1.2%) 1.00x201.1
GLD β€’ 1 Minute
52%(1.7%/0.0%) Infinityx(-2.5%/-5.5%) 0.45x362.5
NVDA β€’ 1 Minute
61%(1.2%/16.7%) 0.07x(-7.9%/-4.4%) 1.80x282.9
SPY β€’ 1 Minute
60%(0.5%/4.6%) 0.11x(-2.5%/-2.1%) 1.19x332.3
TSLA β€’ 1 Minute
47%(6.6%/-10.3%) -0.64x(-11.2%/-21.4%) 0.52x392.1
WMT β€’ 1 Minute
41%(-0.5%/-5.4%) 0.09x(-3.9%/-6.4%) 0.61x292.4
BTCUSDT β€’ 10 Minutes
57%(18.2%/22.4%) 0.81x(-8.6%/-12.1%) 0.71x413.1
EURUSD β€’ 10 Minutes
55%(2.5%/5.8%) 0.43x(-2.2%/-4.3%) 0.51x382.4
GLD β€’ 10 Minutes
58%(26.1%/43.7%) 0.60x(-5.9%/-8.3%) 0.71x543.1
NVDA β€’ 10 Minutes
57%(5.0%/32.9%) 0.15x(-33.4%/-42.8%) 0.78x441.4
SPY β€’ 10 Minutes
60%(6.6%/14.3%) 0.46x(-13.4%/-20.7%) 0.65x411.9
TSLA β€’ 10 Minutes
47%(18.4%/59.0%) 0.31x(-34.8%/-55.3%) 0.63x411.9
WMT β€’ 10 Minutes
60%(37.4%/40.1%) 0.93x(-10.3%/-23.8%) 0.43x621.8
BTCUSDT β€’ 1 Hour
56%(36.4%/68.2%) 0.53x(-31.3%/-30.6%) 1.02x432.2
EURUSD β€’ 1 Hour
50%(6.9%/6.8%) 1.01x(-5.7%/-9.0%) 0.63x422.4
GLD β€’ 1 Hour
60%(35.8%/117.6%) 0.30x(-26.6%/-22.2%) 1.20x363.0
NVDA β€’ 1 Hour
61%(783.4%/3126.3%) 0.25x(-51.4%/-68.0%) 0.76x523.5
SPY β€’ 1 Hour
64%(85.7%/106.7%) 0.80x(-19.0%/-35.1%) 0.54x612.3
TSLA β€’ 1 Hour
55%(2930.2%/1395.5%) 2.10x(-38.7%/-75.1%) 0.52x566.0
WMT β€’ 1 Hour
60%(33.6%/138.2%) 0.24x(-28.4%/-26.9%) 1.06x501.6
BTCUSDT β€’ Daily
59%(638.7%/1337.5%) 0.48x(-61.1%/-76.6%) 0.80x837.3
EURUSD β€’ Daily
35%(4.8%/10.8%) 0.44x(-12.2%/-23.3%) 0.52x710.7
GLD β€’ Daily
61%(242.9%/595.1%) 0.41x(-36.4%/-45.3%) 0.80x466.4
NVDA β€’ Daily
65%(83183.3%/373678.5%) 0.22x(-57.1%/-90.0%) 0.63x7716.0
SPY β€’ Daily
72%(1127.3%/1316.3%) 0.86x(-32.5%/-56.7%) 0.57x873.8
TSLA β€’ Daily
57%(3139.0%/24185.2%) 0.13x(-65.4%/-75.0%) 0.87x3825.3
WMT β€’ Daily
64%(1143.9%/13022.2%) 0.09x(-57.1%/-50.6%) 1.13x398.1