How copy-trading execution works
The exact flow from a strategy signal to a position in your broker account, what is live today, and how credentials are handled.
What copy-trading means
Copy-trading means that when a strategy you follow says 'buy EURUSD at 1.0850 with a 1% stop', PIPFORGE opens that same position in your broker account. The copy matches the direction, entry, stop loss, take profit and a position size that fits your risk settings.
Step-by-step use case
- You upgrade to a Trader or Pro plan.
- You visit /copy-trading, enable copy-trading and set guardrails.
- You visit /brokers and add your broker: MT5 or Binance.
- For Binance you paste the real API key and secret; PIPFORGE encrypts them. For MT5 you paste the server, account number and password; PIPFORGE gives you a bridge token and an EA to download.
- You subscribe to a system strategy in /marketplace, or connect a TradingView alert to your webhook URL.
- When a signal arrives, PIPFORGE reads the symbol, direction, entry, stop loss, take profit and risk.
- PIPFORGE runs the signal through your guardrails and the global kill-switch.
- For Binance, PIPFORGE decrypts the API credentials, fetches your balance, computes quantity and places a real order. The broker's order ID is saved.
- For MT5, PIPFORGE queues the order as pending_execution. Your MT5 bridge EA polls, executes the order in MT5 and reports the ticket ID back.
- If you have no broker connected, the trade is stored as no_broker.
What is live today
Real broker execution is live for Binance Spot (testnet by default, live when enabled). MT5 execution is live through the bridge EA. 'Executed' always means the broker confirmed the order.
How credential encryption works
- Your API key, secret and MT5 password are encrypted with AES-256-GCM.
- The encrypted blob is stored in the database.
- The encryption key is kept separately from the database.
- Credentials are only decrypted in memory when PIPFORGE calls the broker API.
Live mode
New broker connections default to testnet/sandbox. Live mode requires two switches: the connection's 'Use live endpoints' checkbox must be on, and live mode must be enabled on the platform. Do not enable live mode until you have tested on testnet.