DCA bots on Hyperliquid and Aster: settings that matter

A DCA bot (dollar-cost averaging) opens a position with a base order, adds safety orders (Prow's form calls them extra buys) at set distances if the price moves against it, which lowers the average entry, and closes the whole position at a take profit above that average. It does well when dips bounce back. It does badly when the price keeps falling past the last safety order. On Hyperliquid you can run DCA on perps (long or short, with leverage) and on spot; on Aster, on perps. In our tests, DCA with growing safety orders and a stop made a median of +1.6%, with 31% of starts losing money: no better than chance. The settings below decide how much a bad run can cost.

How a deal works

One cycle from base order to exit is a deal:

1. The bot buys the base order (long).
2. If the price falls by the price deviation, the first safety order buys more.
3. Each next safety order sits further away, by the step scale, and can be bigger, by the volume scale.
4. When the price rises to the take profit above the new average, the bot sells everything and the deal closes.
5. If the price instead falls to the stop loss, the deal closes at a loss.
6. With repeat on, the next deal starts.

A worked example

Spot DCA on a coin at 100 USDC: base order 100 USDC, 5 safety orders of 100 USDC, price deviation 2%, step scale 1.2, volume scale 1.0, take profit 1.5%, stop loss 16%. These numbers come from Prow's DCA docs.

• If every order fills, the bot has used 600 USDC at an average of about 93.17. The take profit is 1.5% above that, at about 94.56, which is below the starting price. That is the appeal: a partial bounce is enough to close in profit.
• If the price falls on to the stop, 16% below the average at about 78.26, the deal closes about 96 USDC down: the loss of many winning deals.

A take profit of 1.5% on a 600 USDC deal earns about 9 USDC before fees. One stopped deal can wipe out ten or more winners.

The settings that drive the risk

Coverage. Add up how far the ladder reaches (14.88% in the example) and ask whether that coin has fallen further than that in recent weeks. If it has, the ladder will run out regularly.

The stop must sit beyond the ladder. A stop measured from the average entry moves as safety orders fill. It must stay below the next safety order at every step, or the bot stops out before it ever uses its ladder. Prow's default stop follows the safety orders: their reach plus 3%, rounded up (18% with Prow's default settings).

Liquidation on futures. With leverage, check the estimated liquidation price with every safety order filled. It must be further away than the stop.

Martingale: volume scale above 1

With a volume scale above 1, each safety order is bigger than the one before. At 1.5, the five safety orders in the example become 100, 150, 225, 338 and 506 USDC: 1,419 USDC in total instead of 600. The average moves toward the price faster, so deals close sooner and the win rate looks great. When the price keeps going against you, the loss grows just as fast.

In our tests, martingale DCA without a stop wiped out accounts in most runs. With a stop, it did no better than chance. Keep the volume scale at or near 1 unless you have tested the worst case.

Hyperliquid or Aster?

A long DCA on perps pays funding while the deal is open when funding is positive. A deal stuck near the bottom of its ladder for weeks keeps paying it. Include funding in your expectations, not just fees. The funding guide shows how to work it out.

Run one in Prow

1. Open Bots, Create a bot, then DCA, and pick the coin and venue.
2. Start from a ready setting or set your own base order, safety orders, deviation, scales, take profit and stop.
3. Read the Extra buys preview: each order's price, size, the average entry and take profit if it fills.
4. Read the figure under the run length (what the setting made over the days it was tuned on), then press Continue: it checks your settings and opens the start review.
5. Approve the Prow Bots key once (it can't withdraw), then sign the bot's limits.

Defaults are 1x, long, 5 safety orders, 2% deviation, step scale 1.2, volume scale 1.0, take profit 1.5% and a stop that is always on. The form warns when the volume scale goes above 1.2. See DCA bot.

Prow's Ladder bot mixes the two ideas on futures: it opens a position at the start, adds to it with DCA orders as the price moves against it, and takes profit in steps on a grid. See Ladder bot.

Frequently asked questions

What is a safety order in a DCA bot?

An extra order the bot places when the price moves against the deal, to lower the average entry. Each one sits further from the entry than the last, and with a volume scale above 1 each is also bigger.

Is a DCA bot with martingale safe?

No. With a volume scale above 1, losses grow as fast as the position. In our tests, martingale DCA without a stop wiped out accounts in most runs, and with a stop it did no better than chance.

Where should the stop loss go on a DCA bot?

Beyond the last safety order, measured from the average entry, at every step of the deal. Prow's default is how far the safety orders reach plus 3%, rounded up.

Does a DCA bot on Hyperliquid perps pay funding?

Yes, while a deal is open. Hyperliquid charges or pays funding every hour on the position's value, and the figures on ready setups include it.

Sources

Checked October 5, 2026:

• Hyperliquid docs: Fees, Funding
• Aster docs: Fees, Funding rate
• Prow docs: DCA bot, Trading bots, Past results