Crypto Trading Journal: Why You Need One & How to Set It Up

Start with one trade you can check

A crypto trading journal records what you traded, what it cost, and why you took the trade. Start with a recent closed trade whose entry, exit, and fees you can check against your exchange history. A profitable trade and a well-executed trade are different questions; your notes help you review both.

You can begin with the free Starter plan. You do not need to set an account-capital figure or a financial goal before logging a trade. First create a record you trust, then review it. Goals can come later.

For exchange support and the broader product overview, see the crypto trading journal. This guide walks through the first record, a cost check, and a repeatable review.

Step 1: Create your free journal

Create your account, then open the journal and add a trade. Starter includes 50 new trades per calendar month with no plan expiry. No card or wallet connection is required.

Keep your first entry small in scope: one trade, one reason for entering, and one thing you want to learn. You can add account capital, a goal, and optional profile settings after you have used the journal.

Step 2: Choose how the trade gets in

Log a trade by hand

Use your exchange record to enter the symbol, date, entry price, and trade size. For a closed trade, include the exit price. In the spot form, Size (USD) means the amount used for that trade; it is not your total account balance or the amount you hoped to lose at a stop.

Add a short note explaining the decision. Include a stop or target when you have a plan to record, rather than inventing one after the result. Manual entries use estimated trading fees, so compare the result with your exchange statement when exact costs matter.

Import a compatible trades CSV

If you already have trades in a supported PTJ CSV format, use the journal's CSV import or the import tools in Settings. Check the column layout before importing. A PTJ-compatible file is required; an arbitrary exchange or broker spreadsheet may need its columns mapped first.

Start with a small sample and check its symbols, dates, directions, fees, and results. If your sheet uses a different layout, see a spreadsheet compared with a trading journal before moving the full history.

Sync a supported spot exchange

Starter supports 1 spot exchange connection with manual sync. Create a key with the read permissions required by the venue, leave trading and withdrawal permissions disabled, connect it in the app, and run a sync. Use the venue-specific instructions: Binance journal setup, Bybit journal setup, or OKX journal setup.

Read-only sync imports the history the connected key can access. Historical coverage varies by exchange and product; check the imported record against the original rather than assuming every older fill will be available. The journal connection does not place trades or move funds.

Pro adds automatic sync across 10 supported exchanges and supported futures views. If your first review is a spot trade, you can test the manual Starter workflow before deciding whether you need that automation.

Step 3: Check the result after costs

The headline change in price is not the whole result. Record or reconcile the entry and exit, size, trading fees, and any applicable funding. Funding belongs to the supported futures record; it is not a spot trading fee.

Illustrative example — invented prices and one spot trade, not live results or a return forecast:

Suppose you buy 1 ETH at $2,000 and sell it at $2,100. For this example, the fee is 0.10% of each side's value, matching the current crypto manual-entry estimate. Your actual exchange rate can differ.

The exit fee uses the exit value, so it differs from the entry fee. This example excludes taxes, transfer costs, and funding. Exchange-synced trades use recorded fill fees; manual estimates are not a substitute for reconciling the statement.

For a supported futures trade, a recorded funding debit reduces the result and a funding credit increases it. Record the direction of that cash flow, and do not fill gaps in missing exchange history with guesses. A rising price alone does not tell you the result of a short position or its margin return.

Step 4: Tag the decision and write a lesson

Manual setup, mistake, and session tags are available for your trade review. Choose labels you will use consistently, such as a setup called "breakout retest", a mistake called "chased entry", or a session called "weekend". Leave a mistake tag empty when it does not apply.

The useful question is specific: "I entered after the move because I feared missing it. What was the planned entry?" That note records possible FOMO — fear of missing out — without assuming that every losing trade was emotional. For a possible revenge trade, record whether it followed a loss and whether your size or reason for entry changed.

Starter includes basic P&L and win rate. The full Psychology & Discipline Center, automatic behavioral review tools, equity analytics, and AI Coach require Pro. You can write notes and review tags on Starter without completing a Pro pre-trade ritual or post-trade autopsy.

A copyable crypto journal template

Copy this into a note and fill it in from your own trade. It is a review checklist, not an uploadable CSV. Keep "not recorded" where you do not have evidence.

Market and exchange:
Symbol:
Spot or futures / long or short:
Opened at (include timezone):
Entry price:
Position size / margin if applicable:
Closed at and exit price:
Trading fees (recorded or estimated):
Funding credit or debit if applicable:
Net result and source used to check it:
Reason for entry:
Planned stop and target, if recorded:
Setup tag:
Mistake tag, if any:
Session tag:
Which part of the plan did I follow or change?
One lesson for the next review:

Do not reconstruct a perfect plan after seeing the outcome. If you did not record the stop or thesis at the time, say so. That is useful information for the next entry.

Step 5: Review before adding more complexity

After your first record, check that the numbers match the source and that the note explains the decision. At your next review, compare a few trades with the same setup or mistake tag. Look for repeated choices rather than treating a short winning or losing streak as proof of an edge.

A practical review asks:

• Did the recorded fees or funding change my impression of the result?
• Did I use the same setup name consistently?
• Did I change size or chase an entry after a loss?
• What one process change do I want to check in the next batch?

You can add account capital and a goal when those settings help your own review. A target is a planning input, not a promise that journaling will produce a particular return. If you later use Pro equity analytics, the equity-curve guide explains the numbers to review.

When an upgrade is useful

Keep Starter if its 50 new monthly trades, 1 manually synced spot exchange, and basic review cover your needs. Pro adds unlimited trades, 10-exchange automatic sync, supported futures exposure, and the deeper analytics and psychology tools described on the pricing page.

Pro is $24 for a month or $199 for a year, prepaid in USDC on Solana. Nothing renews automatically. There is no card or wallet connection to the app; the 7-day refund goes to an address you confirm. You do not need to purchase Pro to log your first Starter trade.

Still choosing a tool? Read the current free and paid journal comparison. Ready to start? Create a free journal, record one trade you can reconcile, and write the lesson while the decision is still clear.