Contents
Start from the exchange's minimum order sizeWhat 20 levels on a 50 USDT budget really looks likeLeave money for the move against youFees take a bite out of every small grid profitWorking out your own minimumStart from the exchange's minimum order size
A grid bot is just many small orders placed at different prices, so the first number you need is the smallest order the exchange will accept on that contract. On Binance USDⓈ-M futures, bitcoin has a minimum of 0.001 BTC — at a price around 83,500 USDT that is roughly 83.5 USDT of position size per order. Ethereum starts from 20 USDT, and most altcoin contracts from 5 USDT. On other exchanges the numbers differ, so check the contract you want in the app before you plan anything.
Multiply that minimum by the number of levels you want and you have the floor of your budget. Ten levels on an altcoin where each order must be at least 5 USDT means your grid will hold at least 50 USDT of position when it is fully filled — and that is the number your money and your leverage together have to cover. If you are still fuzzy on how the levels work, the mechanics are explained in what a grid bot actually does.
What 20 levels on a 50 USDT budget really looks like
Say you put in 50 USDT and keep leverage at 1x. The bot then has 50 USDT of position to spread over 20 levels — 2.5 USDT per order, below the 5 USDT minimum on most contracts, so the bot either refuses to start or quietly gives you fewer levels than you asked for. Turn leverage up to 10x and the orders do fit: the same 50 USDT now carries a 500 USDT position, 25 USDT per level. The dense grid you pictured appears, and so does a position ten times bigger than the money behind it.
Leverage lowers the margin you must put up, it does not shrink the position the bot builds. On bitcoin the floor is higher again: one minimum order is already about 83.5 USDT of position, so a ten-level bitcoin grid holds roughly 835 USDT when it fills up. At 10x that needs around 84 USDT of margin, which sounds affordable.
Now follow the price down. By the time it reaches the bottom of your range, the bot has bought at every level above — and each of those buys is under water. Illustrative numbers on a range 10% wide: the open position is already down roughly 40 USDT out of your 84 USDT of margin, before anything dramatic has happened. Another 5% from there is about 42 USDT more, and there is nothing left — the exchange closes the position. That is what 10x on a grid really means.
Through all of that the bot keeps showing the profit of the small trades it has already closed, and that number does not include the loss sitting in the open position. So your balance can be falling while the bot's profit line goes up. That gap between the two numbers is unpacked in bot shows profit, total is negative.
Leave money for the move against you
A grid bot is at its smallest position when the price sits in the middle of the range, and at its largest when the price has run to one edge — exactly when you are deepest in the red. So plan your money for that moment, not for today's price. Run the bot in isolated margin: it can then only use the money you hand it, and the rest of your balance stays untouched — as long as you leave the automatic top-up of margin switched off. If that setting is on, a losing position keeps pulling money from the rest of your account (isolated or cross).
If the price keeps going the wrong way and the bot's own margin runs out, the exchange can close the whole position to stop the loss growing — that is liquidation. A range the price leaves completely will also leave you holding the full position with nothing left to buy or sell. That is the main way these bots lose money, and it is covered in can a bot lose everything.
Fees take a bite out of every small grid profit
Each completed grid cycle pays a fee twice — once to buy, once to sell — and it is charged on the position size, not on your margin. If your order waits in the book and someone else trades into it, you pay less: 0.02% on Binance USDⓈ-M futures at the base level. If your order takes a price that is already sitting there, you pay 0.05%. Grid orders usually sit and wait, so the lower fee is the one you normally pay.
Here is what that does to a 10 USDT order at different grid steps, using the lower fee both ways:
| Grid step | Gross profit per cycle | Fees in and out | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.2% | 0.020 USDT | 0.004 USDT | 0.016 USDT |
| 0.5% | 0.050 USDT | 0.004 USDT | 0.046 USDT |
| 1.0% | 0.100 USDT | 0.004 USDT | 0.096 USDT |
So small orders with small steps mostly pay the exchange. Either make each level bigger, or set a wider step, so one cycle earns clearly more than the two fees it costs. More on how fees are charged in what you pay to trade futures.
Working out your own minimum
Find the minimum order size
Open the contract you want and look at the minimum order. On most altcoins it is around 5 USDT of position size; on bitcoin it is much higher.
Double it
Use at least twice the minimum per level so the grid step is worth more than the two fees it costs.
Multiply by the levels
Ten levels at 10 USDT each means a 100 USDT position when the grid is fully filled.
Divide by your leverage
That gives the margin the bot needs — 100 USDT of position at 2x is about 50 USDT. The lower the leverage, the more of your own money the position stands on.
Add the same again as reserve
Keep roughly as much free balance as the bot's margin, so an adverse move does not close you out at the worst moment.
Run those steps and a 10–20 level grid on a liquid altcoin usually lands somewhere between 100 and 300 USDT, with low leverage. For the first try you can halve the number of levels instead of halving the order size — a 6-level grid on 60 USDT is a real bot, a 20-level grid on 60 USDT is not. The quickest way to sanity-check your own numbers is to sign up on Bybit, open the futures grid bot screen, type in your amount and your number of levels, and see what size each order comes out to before you confirm anything. Availability differs by country, so check during sign-up that futures are offered where you live.
How much to keep in the account overall is a separate question, answered in how much money you need to start, and the actual setup screens are in launching your first bot.
Better to have fewer levels than smaller orders. If your budget is small, cut the number of grid lines rather than the size of each order. Orders below the exchange minimum simply do not exist, and orders barely above it hand most of their profit to fees.
What is the minimum amount to run a grid bot?
There is no single number — it comes from the smallest order the exchange accepts on that contract, multiplied by how many levels you want, and then divided by the leverage you use. On a cheap altcoin with a 5 USDT minimum, a six-level grid can technically start under 50 USDT. A grid with 10–20 levels and some breathing room usually needs a few hundred.
Can I start a futures bot with $10?
On most contracts, no — 10 USDT at low leverage split across even three levels gives orders below the exchange minimum. You could place one or two orders, which is not really a grid. If 10 dollars is what you have, trading it by hand teaches you more; see trading with $10.
Should I use high leverage so a small budget fits more levels?
It fits more levels on paper and brings your liquidation price much closer in practice. The bot's position grows as the price moves away from the middle of the range, so by the time you are at the edge the open loss has already eaten much of your margin. High leverage plus a small balance is the classic way a grid bot ends in a forced close.
Does a bigger budget mean the bot earns more?
It scales both ways: twice the money in the same grid means roughly twice the profit per cycle and twice the loss when the price leaves the range. More money buys you more levels and a thicker reserve, not a better strategy.
Do I need a separate deposit just for the bot?
No — the bot takes the amount you allocate from your futures balance and runs it as its own position. Keeping the rest of your balance outside it, in isolated margin with the automatic margin top-up switched off, is the point: that free money is your reserve, not part of the grid.