Exchanges
Exchange-specific setup guides for connecting your trading account to plutarc.
Supported Exchanges
| Exchange | Matching Engine | Margin Modes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
 BitMEX | Tokyo | Isolated & Cross | Supported |
 Bybit | Singapore | Isolated & Cross | Supported |
 Binance | Tokyo | Isolated & Cross | Supported |
 Kraken | London | Cross Only | Supported |
 OKX | Singapore | Isolated & Cross | Supported |
 KuCoin | Tokyo | Isolated & Cross | Supported |
 Deribit | Amsterdam | Cross Only | Supported |
 Gemini | New York | Cross Only | Supported |
 Phemex | Singapore | Isolated & Cross | Supported |
 WooX | Singapore | Isolated & Cross | Supported |
 Gate.io | Singapore | — | Coming Soon |
 Bitget | Singapore | — | Coming Soon |
 HTX | Singapore | — | Coming Soon |
API Key Setup
To connect BitMEX to plutarc, create an API key on the exchange and add it to your plutarc account.
Creating a BitMEX API Key
- Log in to bitmex.com.
- Navigate to Account → API Keys.
- Click Create API Key.
- Give the key a name you'll recognise (e.g. "plutarc bot").
- Enable the Order permission — this allows placing and cancelling orders.
- Copy the Key ID and Secret. The secret is only shown once — store it securely.
Adding the Key to plutarc
Go to the API Keys page in your plutarc dashboard, click Add Key, and paste in the Key ID and Secret. Select the correct market type and contract type (see below). For full details, see API Keys.
Testing Your Strategy
Before deploying a bot with real capital, use plutarc's built-in Backtester to validate your strategy against historical market data. The backtester simulates trades using real candle data from your chosen exchange and symbol, giving you performance metrics, equity curves, and trade-by-trade breakdowns — all without risking any funds.
Always backtest before going live. Past performance does not guarantee future results, but backtesting helps you catch configuration errors and evaluate strategy behaviour under different market conditions.
Required Permissions
plutarc only needs the ability to place and cancel orders.
- Order — enable this. Required for your bot to trade.
- Withdraw — never enable this. plutarc does not need withdrawal access and will never request it.
Never grant withdrawal permissions to any third-party service. Keeping withdrawal permissions disabled ensures that even if a key were compromised, funds cannot be moved out of your exchange account.
Market Type
plutarc exclusively trades perpetual contracts (perps) — derivatives that track the price of an asset with no expiry date. Perps support leverage, long and short positions, and margin-based trading.
Contract Types
When trading derivatives, you also choose a contract typethat determines how margin and P&L are calculated:
Linear (stablecoin-settled)
Margin and P&L are denominated in a stablecoin — typically USDT or USDC. Gains and losses are in a stable currency, making them easier to reason about. Examples: XBTUSDT on BitMEX, BTCUSDT or BTCPERP on Bybit.
Inverse (coin-settled)
Margin and P&L are denominated in the settlement coin — the specific coin depends on the contract. For example, BTCUSD settles in BTC and ETHUSD settles in ETH. Your position value changes with the price of the collateral, creating a non-linear P&L curve.
If you're unsure which to use, start with linear contracts— they're more straightforward and the P&L is easier to track.
Platform Notes
Kraken — Candle Data Polling
Kraken Futures does not provide a real-time WebSocket candle feed. plutarc polls Kraken's REST API every 60 seconds to update candle data. As a result, signal calculations on Kraken may lag behind real-time market conditions by up to 60 seconds. Strategies relying on precise entry timing or short-term price action — including scalping strategies — are not recommended for Kraken deployments. Longer timeframe strategies (1h, 4h, 1d) are largely unaffected by this limitation.
Kraken — Trailing Stops
Kraken Futures supports trailing stops natively, however they are not available through the Kraken API. plutarc implements trailing stops in software within the bot process as a result. Trailing stop state is held in memory — if a bot is stopped or restarted while a trailing stop is active, the trailing stop level will be recalculated from the current price on restart rather than preserved from before the stop.
Deribit — Implicit Leverage
Deribit does not support setting leverage per-position via its API. Instead, leverage is determined implicitly by the ratio of position size to available margin — a larger position relative to your margin means higher effective leverage. The leverage value configured in plutarc is used for position sizing calculations only (determining how large a position to open) and is not sent to the exchange. Deribit does enforce a maximum effective leverage per instrument, which is shown in the dashboard and validated when configuring assets.
Troubleshooting Connection Issues
Common issues when connecting your exchange to plutarc:
- Invalid API key — double-check that you copied the full key and secret without trailing spaces. Ensure the key hasn't expired or been revoked on the exchange.
- Insufficient permissions — verify that Order permissions are enabled on the exchange side.
- IP restriction blocked — if you enabled IP whitelisting, make sure plutarc's IP ranges are included.
- Wrong market or contract type — the market type and contract type in plutarc must match the instruments available under your API key.
For more help, see the Troubleshooting page.