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Connect an exchange

You need an exchange connection only for live trading. Backtests and paper trading work without one: every account has a paper account with a simulated balance (10,000 USDT per account type) on the Wallet page.

OptAlgo is non-custodial. Your funds stay on your exchange account, and OptAlgo never needs withdrawal permission. Supported exchanges are Binance (official partner, one-click connect), Bybit, OKX and Alpaca. The setup wizard shows which ones are available for your account; the others are marked Coming Soon.

Open the setup wizard​

  1. Open Wallet in the app sidebar.
  2. Click Connect Wallet (or Add Another Wallet).
  3. Choose the exchange, then Auto Connect (Binance only) or API Key Connect.

Binance: Auto Connect​

OptAlgo is an official Binance API partner (Binance Link Program). With Auto Connect you never create or paste a key:

  1. Click Login with Binance.
  2. Approve on Binance's own consent screen.
  3. Binance creates an API key named Optalgo, restricted to OptAlgo's IP addresses, with spot and futures trading and no withdrawal permission, and hands it to OptAlgo encrypted.

An AI agent with an API key can start the same flow from your terminal; you still approve it on Binance (AI agents page).

If Auto Connect is not available right now, connect with an API key instead.

Connect with an API key​

Create the key on the exchange and paste the key and its secret into OptAlgo. The connect form shows the steps for each exchange, with pictures. The rules are the same everywhere:

  • Restrict the key to OptAlgo's trusted IPs. Copy them from the connect form (Copy IPs). At the time of writing they are 54.65.8.71 and 51.79.223.146.
  • Enable trading only: on Binance, Enable Futures and Enable Spot & Margin Trading; on Bybit, Read-Write with Unified Trading.
  • Never enable withdrawals. OptAlgo does not need them.
  • Label the key OptAlgo so you recognise it later.

Binance​

  1. In Binance, go to API Management and click Create API. Choose System Generated.
  2. Enter OptAlgo as the label.
  3. Click Edit restrictions, then Restrict access to trusted IPs only, and add OptAlgo's IPs.
  4. Enable Futures and Spot & Margin Trading, then click Save.
  5. Copy the API key and the secret key, paste them into the OptAlgo form, and click Connect to Binance.

Bybit​

  1. In Bybit, go to API and click Create New Key. Choose System Generated.
  2. Enter OptAlgo as the label, choose Read-Write, select Only IPs with permissions and add OptAlgo's IPs.
  3. Select Unified Trading and click Submit.
  4. Copy the API key and the secret key, paste them into the OptAlgo form, and click Connect to Bybit.

For OKX and Alpaca, follow the steps in the connect form with the same rules.

Fund the right wallet​

A futures bot trades from your exchange's futures wallet. If the Wallet page says you have no funds in an account, use How to? for the transfer steps of your exchange. For example, on Binance transfer USDT from Fiat and Spot to USD-M Futures; on Bybit from Funding to Unified Trading.

If the Wallet cannot read your balance, check the key's permissions and that OptAlgo's IPs are on the key's trusted list.

Exchange sub-accounts​

You can connect an exchange sub-account (Binance or Bybit) to keep OptAlgo's trading apart from your main account. Choose Add Sub Account in the wizard: the form shows how to create the sub-account on the exchange, create its API key with the same rules, and move funds into it. New sub-accounts can take up to an hour before the exchange shows their balances.

Separately, an OptAlgo sub-account is a second account inside OptAlgo, with its own exchange connection, bots and history. It shares your plan: Plus allows 2 and Pro 5 (Plans and limits). Create one from the account menu.

Connection settings​

Settings on a connected futures account sets the margin mode (Cross or Isolated). Pro also has OptAlgo Portfolio Leverage. Spot accounts have no adjustable settings.

Disconnect​

Disconnecting an exchange:

  • stops every bot and subscribed strategy on that exchange;
  • closes the open positions on that exchange first;
  • removes your API keys from OptAlgo.

Your trade history and PnL stay visible, and stopped strategies can be restarted after you reconnect.

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