Knowledge · Terms · BTC

BTC

Indicator abbreviation
Bitcoin
Bitcoin — the first and most important cryptocurrency. Botty trades exclusively BTC perpetuals on Hyperliquid.

What Bitcoin is

Bitcoin is the peer-to-peer cryptocurrency launched in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto — the first successful implementation of a decentralized digital money system with no central authority. Ticker: BTC, sometimes XBT (ISO-compliant).

Relevant for trading purposes:

  • Market capitalization currently the largest crypto asset class.
  • Liquidity excellent on all major exchanges, 24/7 trading.
  • Volatility high compared to equities; lower than small altcoins.
  • Correlation to altcoins usually high — BTC sets the risk-on/risk-off mood of the entire crypto world.

Bitcoin vs. Bitcoin perpetual

BTC can mean different things:

Context Meaning
Spot market actual Bitcoin (on-chain asset)
Futures/perp market a contract that tracks the BTC price, not a real coin
BTCUSDT / BTCUSD perp perpetual-futures pair against a USD(T/C) stablecoin

Botty trades exclusively BTC-USD perpetuals on Hyperliquid. No real coins are held — only margin contracts.

Why BTC and not altcoins

  • Liquidity: the BTC perp has 10–100x more order-book depth than small alts. Slippage is therefore negligible.
  • Data history: Binance futures data since 2020, reliable parquet archives.
  • Volatility: high enough for momentum/trend strategies, but not as extreme as small alts (which make 50%+ daily moves).
  • Robustness: less risk of sudden delistings/rug pulls.

Reference price

For backtests Botty uses Binance USDM Futures 1m candles (BTCUSDT), not spot. Rationale: perp prices track Hyperliquid perpetuals within a few USD; spot prices deviate more (funding/arbitrage difference).