tbotby August Wheel
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What is tbot?

tbot started as a real crypto trading bot running on Kraken with real money. It scanned 63 cryptocurrencies, lost a few hundred dollars, and was shut down. tbot v2 is the honest rebuild.

The rebuild introduces a three tier architecture powered by Claude AI Skills. Currently in paper trading mode, tbot runs Tier 3 exclusively — a 10-minute breakout scanner that monitors 1,500+ tradeable crypto pairs on Kraken, scanning for volume spikes and sustained momentum that suggest something is about to move before the market fully notices. Up to 5 simultaneous positions, no hard take-profit ceiling — the trailing stop rides winners as far as momentum carries. Tier 1 and 2 are benched until capital grows.

Every trade signal includes a plain English explanation of exactly why the bot acted. Every result is published here. The goal is not to promise profits. The goal is to find out what AI-assisted trading automation can genuinely do in 2026, documented honestly from day one.

Build Timeline

v1 Built on Kraken

Aug 2025

v1 Shut Down After Losses

Sep 2025

v2 Rebuild Announced

Oct 2025

Three Tier Architecture Designed

Nov 2025

Data Pipeline Live

Dec 2025

Claude Skill Built

Jan 2026

Paper Trading Active

Feb 2026

Dashboard Live

Mar 2026

Engine Upgrades — Larger Positions, Scanner Fixed, Sell Logic Improved

Apr 2026

Switched to Kraken Live Trading — Real Capital, Tier 3 Only

May 2026

Migrated to ccxt / Kraken — Removed Alpaca Dependency

Aug 2026

Switched Back to Paper Trading — Strategy Overhaul

Aug 2026

How the Three Tiers Work

Only Tier 3 is currently active. Tiers 1 and 2 are benched until capital grows to justify the broader scan cycle.

Tier 1

Stable Core

Benched
Scan frequency
Every 2 hours
Assets
Top 10 by market cap (BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, DOGE, AVAX, LINK, LTC, BCH, UNI)
Position size
8% of portfolio per trade
Stop loss
4% trailing
Take profit
8% target

Steady momentum plays with high liquidity. Trades in BULL and RANGING regimes. Most consistent tier.

Tier 2

Momentum Mid Cap

Benched
Scan frequency
Every 2 hours
Assets
Ranks 11–30 by market cap, refreshed weekly from CoinGecko / Kraken
Position size
5% of portfolio per trade
Stop loss
6% trailing
Take profit
12% target

Mid cap momentum plays. Active in BULL and RANGING regimes. More room to move in both directions.

Tier 3

Unicorn Hunter

Active
Scan frequency
Every 10 minutes (tripwire scanner)
Assets
Dynamic — any Kraken-listed asset meeting breakout criteria (1,500+ pairs scanned)
Position size
10% of portfolio per trade — up to 8 simultaneous positions
Stop loss
7% trailing — ratchets up as price rises, never down
Take profit
No hard ceiling — trailing stop is the only exit, letting winners run

Three detection paths: (1) Full breakout — volume >1.2× avg + consecutive bars with ≥0.2% move each. (2) 15m fast-detection — catches breakouts 30–60 min earlier via 15-minute bar confirmation. (3) Accumulation — volume ≥1.5× avg with flat price flags a coin as pre-breakout CANDIDATE before the move starts. All paths fully decoupled from BTC/ETH macro. Stagnant positions (6h+ held, <3% gain) rotated out for stronger signals.

How a Trade Happens

The full cycle from detection to exit — as it runs today on Tier 3.

01

Scan

Every 10 minutes, the breakout scanner checks 1,500+ Kraken trading pairs across three detection paths: full breakout (volume spike + consecutive positive bars), 15-minute fast detection (catches moves 30–60 min earlier), and accumulation detection (volume building before price moves — the earliest possible signal).

02

Score

Flagged assets are scored on momentum strength across the last 1, 6, 12, and 24 hours — with the 1-hour window weighted heavily to reward fresh early-stage entries over stale late ones. Volume confirmation and proximity to the 48-hour high round out the score. No new entries are opened unless the result clears the confidence threshold.

03

Enter

If the score clears the threshold, a position is opened at 10% of available portfolio. Up to 8 positions can be held simultaneously, deploying up to 80% of capital. If capital is fully deployed and a stronger signal arrives, the weakest stagnant position (held 6+ hours, gain under 3%) may be rotated out to make room.

04

Monitor

A trailing stop tracks the position from the moment it opens. As price rises, the stop ratchets upward to lock in gains — it never moves down. Claude AI periodically reviews open positions held longer than 4 hours where gains are modest, checking whether the trade thesis still holds.

05

Exit

The trailing stop closes the position automatically when price reverses enough to trigger it. If Claude's review concludes that momentum has broken down before the stop fires, it can signal an early exit. There is no hard take-profit ceiling — the bot lets winners run as far as momentum carries.

About August Wheel

August Wheel is an AI learning and content brand created by Augustine Osei, an IT professional building in public at the intersection of automation, AI tools, and practical problem solving. The tagline is simple: Build it. Learn it. Own it.

tbot is one of several projects documented openly on augustwheel.com — including TaskCocoon, Birdie, and ReadRecall. Every project includes the failures alongside the wins, because that is where the real learning happens.

Follow the Experiment

Get notified when results are published and when the bot makes its first Tier 3 discovery.