Picture this

Who it is for

Ana Lucía Paredes teaches math at a high school in Cusco and built a breakout strategy for ETH on Hyperliquid. After three good days she wanted to go live with real size, which is how she lost money the last time. Paper First runs her bot on live prices with paper money for 14 days, grades it against the bar she wrote (max drawdown, win to loss, zero rule breaks), and only then lets it trade $50 at a time, climbing a rung only while it keeps passing.

Two ways to own it

What you get

Base$100

Yours in 3 to 5 days

The user app: illustrated home with first-run onboarding, a strategy builder for three perp strategy types on Hyperliquid, the user's own bar, a 14 day paper run on live prices with a fill haircut, the graduation report card, the size ladder with automatic demotion, live trading through a scoped API wallet with caps and a kill switch, receipts and the in-app paywall.

You choose: accent color
You choose: default bar
You choose: ladder rungs
You choose: strategy templates

Customfrom $1,500

Built around you

Reshape it entirely: new features, your flows, your brand end to end, integrations you need. We scope it with you.

Everything in Base
Custom features and design
Priority build

Why it is new

What exists today, and what this does differently

What is new

Paper modes are everywhere and guides recommend weeks of paper trading before going live. What we did not find is a bot that enforces it: a graduation gate graded against the user's own bar on fill-adjusted paper results, a size ladder that only climbs while live results keep passing, and an automatic demotion back to paper on any breach.

Closest things out there

Option Alpha bots run in paper or live mode and its docs recommend 30 to 60 days of paper first; Cryptohopper and Haasonline offer paper or simulated trading; Alpaca publishes data on paper versus live traders. None enforce the move from paper to live or back.

Checked with web searches in October 2026. A search is not proof that nothing similar exists, and the market moves fast, so we recheck before every build.

What it unlocks

The human in it

Gives impatient people a teacher's rule: show your work for two weeks before anyone trusts you with money.

The Regatta Board

Races Paper First can enter

One live race fits this app. Each one says why, with its prize and countdown. The rule on existing code is on the race page.

HackathonmultichainEncode Club hackathons and acceleratorsPrizeNot announcedRolling, apply any timeWhy it fits. Encode programs sometimes run trading and agent tracks; check current terms and rules on existing code.6 other apps can enter tooSee the race

See every race on the board

What you own

The whole app, not a starter kit.

A perp bot app you own where every strategy earns its money: 14 days on paper against the user's own bar, a graduation gate, a size ladder that only climbs while it keeps passing, and an automatic demotion on any breach. You earn from your own paywall; your console sets the rules every bot must meet.

Base price · $100

The user app, complete

Every buyer gets the same finished app. Basic branding and copy changes come through a quick form.

Illustrated home with first-run onboardingHome

Three step welcome on the bar, the gate and the ladder, then today's paper day and the one next action.

Daily report cardPaper

Each of 14 paper days graded against the bar: drawdown, win to loss, rule breaks and trades, with the equity curve.

Fill haircut on paper resultsPaper

Paper fills adjusted toward real fills so the grade is not kinder than live trading.

Graduation gatePaper

Pass every line on day 14 or stay on paper, with the reason in plain words.

Three playable storiesLadder

A bot that graduates and climbs, one that fails on paper and never touches money, and one that breaches live and demotes itself.

Size ladder with demotionLadder

Rungs from $50 to $500 a trade, passing days per rung, and the automatic return to paper on a breach.

Strategy builderBuild

Template, market, risk per trade, stop width, leverage cap and max trades a day, with the paper grade updating live.

Your barBuild

Max drawdown, minimum win to loss, rule breaks allowed and minimum trades; changing the strategy restarts the clock.

ReceiptsLog

Paper days, graduations, rung changes, demotions and kill switch events, each with a deterministic receipt.

Kill switch, plans, diploma card and permissionsMe

Revoke the API wallet and close reduce only, the in-app paywall with a simulated USDC checkout, and the bot's hard limits.

Open the full app demo

Add-on

Owner console

Your admin side: revenue, paywall editor, users, rules and the agent log.

Revenue dashboardRevenue

MRR, plan counts, monthly chart and incoming USDC payments.

Live paywall editorRevenue

Rename tiers, set prices and choose which features are gated; the user app updates instantly.

Payment method togglesRevenue

USDC on Base, USDC on other chains and card on-ramp.

School rulesRules

Minimum paper days, the fill haircut, passing days per rung, the top rung allowed and the daily loss cap every bot must respect.

Bot runtime log with failuresAgent

A week of paper and live runs including a fill gap and a demotion conflict, plus running costs.

Roadmap with build requestsRoadmap

v1 included, v2 and v3 add-ons with prices and a request sheet.

Top-up

Growth and referrals

Referral and growth mechanics, switched on when you are ready to grow.

Diploma card growth loopGrowth

Classes that assign the app, users by source and graduation rates by cohort.

The money path, built in

How it earns for you

Paper trading and grading are free forever. Users subscribe to go live after graduating, to run more strategies and to customise ladders. Teachers pay for a class plan with a shared bar.

NotebookFreeOne strategy on paper forever, the bar, the daily report card and the graduation gate.

Diploma$15 per monthGo live after graduating, the full ladder with automatic demotion, three strategies and Telegram alerts.

Faculty$45 per monthTen strategies, custom ladder rungs, exports and a shared bar for a class or club.

Prices are yours to set. Illustrative, not a promise of income.

Growth loops, built in

How it spreads

Diploma card: users share that their bot passed its bar and which rung it is on
Trading teachers assign a 14 day paper run as homework on Faculty
Demotion stories: the card that shows a bot stopped itself before a bad week
Referral month for each friend whose bot graduates

Roadmap · build the next phase with us

Where it goes next

v1 included

Paper first, then small

Three strategy templates on Hyperliquid
Paper engine with a fill haircut
Bar, report card and graduation gate
Size ladder with automatic demotion
Kill switch, receipts, plans and paywall editor

Included

Classes and more markets

Teacher accounts with a shared bar and a class board
Ten more Hyperliquid markets
Custom strategy rules in plain language

Add-on from $500

Portable diplomas

Graduation records attested and shareable
Copy or fund only graduated bots
Walk forward tests across market regimes

Add-on from $1,000

The pitch, ready for investors and grant reviewers

Unlocked when your app is paid in full

Your 2 minute demo script

Unlocked when your app is paid in full

Make it entirely yours

Your brand, strategy templates, default bar, ladder rungs and integrations such as class accounts or more venues are scoped and priced together.

Custom from $1,500

BLUEPRINT

Why it matters and how it really works

The recipe (how it is built, the data, costs, risks, build order, the pitch and the demo script) is unlocked when your app is paid in full.

The need

People build a trading bot, see three good days, and go live with full size. Paper results are kinder than live fills, a few lucky trades look like an edge, and the first bad week arrives with real money. Everyone knows to paper trade first; almost nobody has something that makes them.

What exists and what is new

Paper trading is common: Option Alpha runs bots in paper or live mode and recommends 30 to 60 days of paper first, and Cryptohopper and Haasonline offer simulated modes. What we did not find is enforcement. Paper First grades a perp bot against the user's own bar on fill-adjusted paper results for 14 days, lets it go live only on a pass, grows size on a ladder only while it keeps passing, and demotes it to paper on any breach. Research verdict: partly exists, medium novelty.

The data it runs on

Unlocked when your app is paid in full

1.The mission

Make every trading bot earn trust the way a student earns a diploma: show its work against a bar you set, then start small.

2.Why people can't resist it

The report card Every day of the paper run is graded against your bar: drawdown, win to loss, rule breaks and trade count, with paper results adjusted for real fills.

The graduation gate Day 14 is a gate, not a date. Pass every line of your bar or stay on paper and change the strategy.

The ladder Live starts at the first rung. Each rung needs more passing days. Any breach drops the bot back to paper and the clock starts again.

3.How it works for real

Unlocked when your app is paid in full

4.Pricing

Cost per use: unlocked when your app is paid in full.

Notebook Free

One strategy on paper forever, the bar, the daily report card and the graduation gate.

Diploma $15 per month

Go live after graduating, the full size ladder with automatic demotion, three strategies and Telegram alerts.

Faculty $45 per month

Ten strategies, custom ladder rungs, CSV exports and a shared bar for a trading class or club.

5.Growth loop

The diploma card is the hook: people share that their bot passed its bar on paper and climbed a rung, or that it demoted itself before a bad week got worse. Trading teachers assign Paper First as homework for their students.

6.Risks and guardrails

Unlocked when your app is paid in full

7.Build order

Unlocked when your app is paid in full

8.Where this is going

Now
One person's bot proves itself on paper against her own bar before it touches a dollar.
Next
More templates, more markets and classes where a teacher sets the bar and students graduate together.
Later
Attested graduation records travel with a strategy, so anyone copying or funding a bot can see it earned its size.
The world it builds
Automated trading grows up: no bot gets real money until it has shown its work, and none keeps it after breaking its own rules.

Costs and tools are estimates at the time of writing. General information only, not legal or financial advice.

OWNER PLAYBOOK

Own it, then chart your voyage

Nine routes from one vessel. Tap a port to open its chart.

Why own Paper First

Everyone who builds a trading bot has heard 'paper trade first' and almost nobody does it for long enough. Owning Paper First means you run the app that makes it a rule: a bar the user writes, 14 days of fill-adjusted paper results, a graduation gate, a ladder that starts at $50 and a bot that demotes itself the moment it breaks its own rules. Teachers, trading groups and careful beginners all want this, and paper is free to try, so the funnel is wide.

What’s stopping you?

“I cannot write trading strategies.”

You do not need to. The app ships with three templates users configure, and users set their own bar. Your job is the app, the school rules in the console and support.

“What if a graduated bot loses money live?”

It can, and the app says so at the gate and on the ladder. Live size starts at the first rung, climbs only while it keeps passing, and drops back to paper on any breach. Funds stay in the user's account behind an API wallet that cannot withdraw.

“Will people pay if paper is free?”

Paper is the funnel. The moment a bot graduates, the user wants to go live, and that is what Diploma unlocks. Teachers pay for classes because the gate is homework that grades itself.

“Is it legal to run a trading bot app?”

Rules differ by country. Run it as software that executes the user's own rules from their own account, with no signals or performance promises, and take local advice before charging users.