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Capital Allocation

Capital Allocation

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The ceiling the strategy may deploy — and the one number people get wrong, because the ladder's cost depends on the grid mode, not on the level count.

The minimum-capital formula

The shows the requirement as:

Formula
min = (ladderCost + initTargets × initLots) × gridSize ÷ leverage
ladderCost
Σ of every rung's size multiplier, in base-lot units. Comes from the 's own — NOT the level count.
initTargets × initLots
The opening position, taken at market before any rung .
gridSize
The base for one level.
÷ leverage
Converts into the margin actually locked.
!
Caution:The naive formula levels × gridSize is only correct for fixed . For at 10 levels the true ladder cost is 55× base, not 10× — a 5.5× under-estimate. For exponential it is ~2046× base.

Why the mode dominates

2046×0ladder depth (levels 1 → 10)FixedCapped LinearLinear MartingaleExponential Martingale
Cumulative capital as depth grows, for four families at the same base lot.
fixed (10 levels)
10× base — linear and fully predictable.
capped_linear (10, cap 5)
~40× base — grows then flattens at the cap.
marti_grid_linear (10)
55× base — the triangular number n(n+1)/2.
capped_martingale (10, cap 8)
~70× base — doubles to the cap, then holds.
marti_grid_exponential (10)
~2046× base — the reason capped modes exist.
anti_marti_exponential (10)
< 2× base — converges; deep rungs cost almost nothing.
size per level — Capped MartingaleL12.00×L24.00×L38.00×L48.00×L58.00×L68.00×L78.00×L88.00×L98.00×L108.00×cumulative capital → 70.0× base
Per-level size and the cumulative ramp for a capped martingale.

Auto-fill and the sufficiency check

  1. 1
    Auto-filled at 1×
    When you change any structural field, the capital box is refilled with the ladder's cost at 1× leverage — the safe, unleveraged requirement.
  2. 2
    Sufficiency indicator
    The section accent green when your allocation covers the minimum and amber when it does not, with a hint to raise capital or leverage.
  3. 3
    What under-funding actually does
    Nothing fails at deploy time. The shallow rungs place normally; the deep ones are by the broker for insufficient margin exactly when price reaches them — the worst possible moment.
ℹ
Note:The expanded flags the same shortfall explicitly, showing the required margin against your allocation.

Max capital as a live ceiling

Once running, capital becomes max_capital — a hard ceiling the engine will not exceed. It is the one capital control that is safe to change , and the terminal has a dedicated widget for it.

  • Raising it with -down enabled extends the ladder downward, deploying the new budget into fresh levels below the current window.
  • Raising it without -down simply relaxes the cap; existing levels are untouched.
  • Lowering it below what is already committed does not force-close anything — it stops further .

Trail capital

that extend the grid (-down on a long, trail-up on a short) need capital beyond the ladder's own cost, because they add levels that did not exist at deploy time. That is what the Additional Trail Capital field funds; the shows the combined allocation once you set it.

Leverage's role

same ladder notional · margin required1×100% margin~100% to liq.2×50% margin~50% to liq.5×20% margin~20% to liq.10×10% margin~10% to liq.
Leverage divides the margin requirement — and divides the distance to liquidation.

Using leverage to satisfy the minimum-capital check is legitimate but not free: it does not reduce the position, only the margin. the distance still sits comfortably outside the ladder's coverage before you rely on it.

A worked example

Setup
capped_linear (cap 5), 20 levels, 0.5% spread, 100 USDT, 3 init targets × 1 init lot, 2× leverage
Ladder cost
1+2+3+4+5+5×15 = 90× base
Init cost
3 × 1 = 3× base
Notional
(90 + 3) × 100 = 9,300 USDT
Margin at 2×
4,650 USDT — the minimum allocation
Coverage
20 × 0.5% = 10% of adverse move
Liquidation at 2×
~50% adverse — comfortably outside the ladder. Sound.

Related

  • 1.Grid Modes — Overview — Capital profile of every family
  • 2.Leverage & Base Price — Margin vs liquidation distance
  • 3.Trail Modes — What trail capital funds
  • 4.Stop Loss — Bounding the downside

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