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CuratedBreakout

Turtle System 2 (55/20) — Bitcoin strategy backtest

The slower turtle: 55-day-high entry, 20-day-low exit, sized to a fixed risk per trade

A curated strategy — a well-known mechanism with sensible risk management built in. Still not a recommendation — it's a mechanism you test yourself.

How this strategy works
  • • Buys when Close price is above Donchian channel(55) upper.
  • • Sells when Close price is below Donchian channel(20) lower.
  • • Uses a volatility (ATR×3 over 20 bars) stop.
  • • Sizes each trade to risk ~2.0% of capital to the stop (a gap through it can cost more).
Run this exact strategy yourself — pick a window:
Bitcoin · 2016-10-30 → 2026-10-30 (3653 bars) · costs & slippage on · vs buy & hold
Drawdown — how far underwater you'd have been
Lagged buy & hold
Total return
+167.6%
Buy & hold +10909.7%
vs Buy & Hold
-10742 pts
lagged the benchmark
Max drawdown
-12.9%
worst peak-to-trough
CAGR
+10.3%
Win rate
43%
Profit factor
6.18
Sharpe
1.08
Trades
30
Time in market
37%
Best trade
+304.1%
Worst trade
-11.7%
Worst drawdowns · peak → troughDepthTo troughUnderwaterRecovered
2019-06-26 → 2020-09-03-12.9%435d540dyes
2017-12-16 → 2019-02-24-10.5%435d511dyes
2017-01-04 → 2017-03-10-10.1%65d135dyes
Monthly excess over buy & hold · in pp vs buy & hold, not the raw return
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
2016·········
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026··

Tap a month for the strategy return, the buy-&-hold return and the exact excess.

beat buy & holdlagged buy & hold0 = matched it· = no datahatched = partial edge

How this is computed → (closed-bar, costs on, vs buy & hold — the full method.)

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. This is an educational, analytical tool — not investment advice, and not a recommendation to buy or sell anything. You make all decisions and execute on your own broker.

Hypothetical performance disclaimer (CFTC Rule 4.41)

HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER- OR OVER-COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.

How this backtest works
Data
Yahoo Finance daily OHLC (crypto = aggregate USD reference), split-adjusted. Recomputed on each run.
Costs
A flat 0.05% per side on every entry and exit (costs & slippage). No leverage.
Execution
Signals act on the next open after a bar closes — never on a price you couldn't have known.
Look-ahead & survivorship
Indicators use closed bars only; the forming bar is dropped. Survivorship is labelled, not hidden.
Benchmark
Measured against buy & hold of the same asset over the same window.
What it isn't
Not advice, not a prediction, no profit claim. We hold no funds and place no orders.

Indicator names identify the published calculations this strategy uses; the strategy's name describes the rule being tested. No affiliation with, or endorsement by, any person or trademark owner is implied.