Bollinger/Keltner squeezelongBacktest Results @ BTCUSD • 1 Minute
This strategy buys whenever Bollinger Bands is squeezed into Kelther Channel. This normally indicates that the market is going sideways. This strategy then sells whenever price goes below the Bollinger Bands middle line. The idea is to buy during the obviously sideways market, hoping for it to burst.
Equity Curve
Backtest covers 7 days of BTCUSD • 1 Minute (Bitcoin vs USD, Coinbase Pro (GDAX)) data, from July 7, 2025 to July 13, 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.
So, we have backtested Bollinger/Keltner squeeze on 7 days of BTCUSD • 1 Minute candles. This backtest resulted in 41 positions, with the average win rate of 49% and reward-risk ratio of 1.23. If you assume that 1.23 reward-to-risk ratio holds, you need a minimum win rate of 44.8 to be profitable. So you're looking good so far. However, 41 positions is a small sample size, so take the results with a huge grain of salt. The key metrics are as follows:
- Total Return: Total Return: 0.20% vs 9.80% for the asset
- Max Drawdown: Max Drawdown: -0.40% vs -1.60% for the asset
- Exposure: Exposure: 12.90% time in the market
- Win Rate: Win Rate: 49.0%, vs 44.8% minimum
- Reward/Risk Ratio: Reward/Risk Ratio: 1.23
With that exposure in mind, you can tell that for 13% time-in-market, you get 2.04% of the asset upside potential, and 25.00% of the asset downside potential.
Bollinger/Keltner squeeze: enter a position when
All of the following: # Whiskey 1min Chart(close) (2 candles ago) < 1min Bollinger Bands ® (20, 2, 2, 0, close), Up (2 candles ago) 1min Chart(close) (1 candles ago) > 1min Bollinger Bands ® (20, 2, 2, 0, close), Up (1 candles ago) 1min Bollinger Bands ® (20, 2, 2, 0, close), Up (1 candles ago) < 1min Keltner Channel (20, SMA, 10, 2, 0, close), Up (1 candles ago) 1min BB (20, 2, 2, 0, close) (1 candles ago) > 1min Keltner (20, SMA, 10, 2, 0, close) (1 candles ago)
Bollinger/Keltner squeeze: exit a position when
Any of the following: # Papa 1min Chart(close) < 1min Bollinger Bands ® (20, 2, 2, 0, close), Middle
Bollinger/Keltner squeeze @ BTCUSD • 1 Minute (0.2%) backtest results explained by Alex C
Alex C
AuthorThe results look quite interesting from mathematical perspective. The strategy shows some promising characteristics, but also has significant limitations that we must consider.
First, let's look at the positive aspects: The Risk/Reward ratio of 1.23 is acceptable, and the win rate leeway of 48.55% above minimal required win rate is very good - this suggests the strategy has good mathematical stability. The relatively low max drawdown of -0.4% also indicates good risk management characteristics.
However, there are serious concerns. The total return of 0.2% severely underperforms the buy & hold return of 9.8% - this is problematic. The market exposure of only 12.9% suggests the strategy misses many potential opportunities. Also, the trading frequency of 13.7 trades per day means significant transaction costs that weren't factored into these results, which would likely make the strategy unprofitable in real trading.
The missing values for Sharpe Ratio, Sortino Ratio and other risk metrics make proper risk analysis difficult. Without these numbers, we cannot make fully informed decisions about the strategy's risk-adjusted performance. I would recommend collecting more data over a longer timeframe to get these important metrics.
Tabular metrics of Bollinger/Keltner squeeze backtested on BTCUSD • 1 Minute
| Total Trades | 41 | Net Profit | 0.2% | Buy & Hold Profit | 9.8% |
| Win Rate | 49% | Reward/Risk Ratio | 1.23 | Max Drawdown | -0.4% |
| Asset Max Drawdown | -1.6% | Exposure | 12.9% | Avg Candles in Position | 9.1 |
| Sharpe Ratio | Sortino Ratio | Realized Volatility | — | ||
| Max Winning Streak | 4 | Avg Winning Streak | 2.2 | Max Losing Streak | 6 |
| Avg Losing Streak | 2.1 | Avg Trades per Month | 410.0 | Avg Trades per Day | 13.7 |
| Return Std Dev | 0.1 | Loss Std Dev | 0.0 | Win Std Dev | 0.1 |
| Expectancy | 0.1 | Beta | 0.01 |
All backtests for Bollinger/Keltner squeeze
| backtest | exposure | peformance vs asset | drawdown vs asset | win% | reward/risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BTCUSD • 1 Minute | 13% | (0.2%/9.8%) 0.02x | (-0.4%/-1.6%) 0.25x | 49 | 1.2 |
EURUSD • 1 Minute | 17% | (-0.1%/-0.9%) 0.11x | (-0.5%/-1.2%) 0.42x | 28 | 2.4 |
GLD • 1 Minute | 18% | (3.6%/0.0%) Infinityx | (-1.0%/-5.5%) 0.18x | 35 | 4.0 |
NVDA • 1 Minute | 24% | (8.1%/16.7%) 0.49x | (-1.8%/-4.4%) 0.41x | 43 | 2.4 |
SPY • 1 Minute | 23% | (1.0%/4.6%) 0.22x | (-1.6%/-2.1%) 0.76x | 33 | 2.4 |
TSLA • 1 Minute | 23% | (-14.5%/-10.3%) 1.41x | (-15.5%/-21.4%) 0.72x | 28 | 1.3 |
WMT • 1 Minute | 18% | (-3.8%/-5.4%) 0.70x | (-3.9%/-6.4%) 0.61x | 31 | 1.4 |
BTCUSD • 10 Minutes | 19% | (1.0%/27.2%) 0.04x | (-6.3%/-12.1%) 0.52x | 35 | 1.9 |
EURUSD • 10 Minutes | 24% | (-0.3%/6.5%) -0.05x | (-4.3%/-4.3%) 1.00x | 30 | 2.3 |
GLD • 10 Minutes | 19% | (-4.0%/43.7%) -0.09x | (-8.0%/-8.3%) 0.96x | 37 | 1.4 |
NVDA • 10 Minutes | 25% | (-12.1%/32.9%) -0.37x | (-24.9%/-42.8%) 0.58x | 36 | 1.6 |
SPY • 10 Minutes | 26% | (-0.3%/14.3%) -0.02x | (-5.6%/-20.7%) 0.27x | 38 | 1.6 |
TSLA • 10 Minutes | 24% | (4.7%/59.0%) 0.08x | (-32.8%/-55.3%) 0.59x | 40 | 1.6 |
WMT • 10 Minutes | 27% | (17.3%/40.1%) 0.43x | (-6.2%/-23.8%) 0.26x | 44 | 1.9 |
BTCUSD • 1 Hour | 25% | (19.1%/71.4%) 0.27x | (-21.5%/-31.0%) 0.69x | 42 | 1.7 |
EURUSD • 1 Hour | 26% | (4.9%/8.2%) 0.60x | (-2.8%/-9.0%) 0.31x | 41 | 1.9 |
GLD • 1 Hour | 16% | (6.2%/117.6%) 0.05x | (-18.6%/-22.2%) 0.84x | 42 | 1.6 |
NVDA • 1 Hour | 26% | (364.4%/3126.3%) 0.12x | (-34.2%/-68.0%) 0.50x | 49 | 2.5 |
SPY • 1 Hour | 22% | (8.9%/106.7%) 0.08x | (-12.4%/-35.1%) 0.35x | 41 | 1.7 |
TSLA • 1 Hour | 21% | (505.6%/1395.5%) 0.36x | (-34.5%/-75.1%) 0.46x | 43 | 3.1 |
WMT • 1 Hour | 25% | (25.8%/138.2%) 0.19x | (-9.3%/-26.9%) 0.35x | 46 | 1.6 |
BTCUSD • Daily | 28% | (2515.4%/67440.2%) 0.04x | (-51.5%/-83.8%) 0.61x | 45 | 4.2 |
EURUSD • Daily | 25% | (5.2%/10.8%) 0.48x | (-9.1%/-23.3%) 0.39x | 39 | 1.9 |
GLD • Daily | 17% | (13.2%/595.1%) 0.02x | (-21.1%/-45.3%) 0.47x | 39 | 1.9 |
NVDA • Daily | 26% | (577.6%/373678.5%) 0.00x | (-51.4%/-90.0%) 0.57x | 43 | 2.5 |
SPY • Daily | 22% | (14.1%/1316.3%) 0.01x | (-39.4%/-56.7%) 0.69x | 39 | 1.9 |
TSLA • Daily | 24% | (1451.6%/24185.2%) 0.06x | (-38.8%/-75.0%) 0.52x | 47 | 3.9 |
WMT • Daily | 26% | (-44.0%/9978.0%) -0.00x | (-74.7%/-50.6%) 1.48x | 36 | 1.6 |