Updated Rules checked 2026-10-17
Copy trading itself is not a scam. Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, BingX and MEXC all offer copy trading inside their own apps: the money stays in a copy trading account under your own account, the system automatically copies the lead trader’s orders, and profit share is settled automatically at the rate published on the lead trader’s page. You never transfer money to anyone. What people call a “copy trading scam” is usually a LINE or Telegram signal group outside the exchange: it lets you make a small profit first, then tells you to move your money to a website or app the scammer picks, and finally finds one excuse after another to stop you from withdrawing.
Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB, 刑事警察局) puts it bluntly: “If you are asked to add someone on LINE to invest, it is always a scam.” The exchanges’ own rules also forbid lead traders from guaranteeing profits or steering people off the platform: Binance states that such copy portfolios may be taken down, and BingX forbids lead traders from promising profits or publishing their social media accounts. Someone in a group who calls themselves a lead trader and guarantees returns does not even meet the rules of legitimate copy trading.
That said, copy trading on an exchange not being a scam does not mean you cannot lose money. Futures copy trading uses leverage, and if the lead trader’s position is liquidated, the margin you put behind it can also go to zero. Below I cover the differences between the two, the copy trading rules at 6 exchanges, how to read every number on a lead trader’s page, and finally a checklist you can go through item by item before you copy.
Key points: with an exchange’s built-in copy trading, the money stays in your own account. Bitget states that the copy trading account is completely independent of the main account, and that the remaining funds go back to your spot or funding account when you stop copying. Any “copy trading” that asks you to send USDT to another address, website or app is not exchange copy trading. According to Taiwan’s National Police Agency (NPA), there were 197,595 fraud cases in 2025, of which 58,675, or 29.69%, were investment fraud, the largest category. A Binance copy portfolio may be taken down if its description steers people to an off-platform service or guarantees risk-free copy trading; BingX forbids lead traders from promising profits and from operating copy traders’ accounts. The same metric is calculated differently at each exchange: Bybit’s win rate formula also counts open positions with positive unrealized PnL, while the OKX copy trader FAQ defines win rate as “profitable days ÷ lead trading days”, so check the definition before comparing across exchanges. A lead trader with a 50% maximum drawdown has to make 100% to get back to the peak, and a lead trader with a 90% win rate can still lose money overall.
The information below was checked against official pages on 2026-10-17 (data check date) and is provided for reference.
Is copy trading a scam? How exchange copy trading differs from signal groups
The words “copy trading” are not what matters. What matters is where the money sits, who settles it, and whether the performance can be checked. The table puts an exchange’s built-in copy trading side by side with group signal trading:
| Comparison | Exchange built-in copy trading | LINE or Telegram signal group |
|---|---|---|
| Where it happens | The “Copy Trading” feature in the exchange’s official app or website | Groups, private messages and dating apps, then a link the scammer sends you |
| Where the money sits | A copy trading account under your own account. Bitget states that the copy trading account and the main account are “completely independent”, with a sub-account opened for each lead trader you copy; BingX also uses a dedicated copy trading sub-account | Sent to a wallet address, website or app the scammer specifies |
| How profit share is paid | Settled automatically by the system at the rate on the lead trader’s page; nothing is charged for a settlement period with a net loss | Membership fees, group entry fees, or “dividends” transferred privately |
| Where performance comes from | Platform statistics, updated hourly at OKX and Bitget | Screenshots and statements that cannot be verified |
| Can the lead trader touch your account? | No. BingX explicitly forbids lead traders from accessing or operating copy traders’ accounts | Often asks for your password, verification codes, or API keys to “manage” the account for you |
| When you want to stop | You tap stop copying yourself, and the remaining funds go back to your spot, funding or futures account (except during a Binance lock-up period, see below) | You are told to pay a deposit before withdrawing, or that your “wagering volume is insufficient” |
Sources: Bitget futures copy trading guide for copy traders (2026-01-09), BingX futures copy trading tutorial (updated 2025-11-25), BingX prohibited practices for lead traders, OKX copy trader FAQ (updated 2026-08-26), Bitget lead trader guide (2026-01-09), CIB common scam methods: fake investment (updated 2026-10-16).
Exchange copy trading also has one point that is often misunderstood: lead traders are not exchange employees, nor investment advisers endorsed by the exchange. In its guide to choosing lead traders, Binance states “No partnership/affiliation between top-performing traders and Binance” (Binance criteria for selecting lead traders, 2023-11-20); OKX also states that the platform’s selection of lead traders “does not constitute a guarantee or endorsement of their future performance” (OKX futures lead trading guidelines, updated 2026-08-11). So a claim like “a lead trading mentor officially certified by Binance” is a red flag in itself, and Binance also states that it does not assign representatives to give investment advice (Binance warning on community group scams, 2024-11-29).
How do signal group scams work? 7 warning signs
Investment fraud is the most common type of fraud in Taiwan. An NPA statistics bulletin states that there were 197,595 fraud cases in 2025, of which 58,675, or 29.69%, were “investment fraud”, and investment fraud was also the most common type for victims in every age group from 24 up (NPA Police Statistics Bulletin, week 14 of ROC year 115, 2026-04-01). The CIB describes the fake investment pattern like this: scammers reach you through social media or dating apps, invite you into a LINE investment group, let you make a small profit at first, then use “the more you put in, the more you make” to get you to add more money, and finally refuse withdrawals with excuses such as insufficient wagering volume, a required deposit or an IP anomaly (CIB common scam methods: fake investment).
Based on the anti-fraud guidance from the CIB and the exchanges, if any one of these 7 signs shows up, stop:
- “Signal trading” in a LINE or Telegram group: the CIB states, “If you are asked to add someone on LINE to invest, it is always a scam.” Exchange copy trading takes one tap in the official app, with no group to join.
- Guaranteed profits, can’t-lose returns: the CIB lists “guaranteed profit” and “can’t lose” as signs of a scam. Binance also lists “any form of guarantee or promise of risk-free copy trading” as abnormal behavior, for which a copy portfolio may be taken down and placed in a cooling-off period (How to lead trade on Binance Futures, updated 2026-10-01).
- Asking you to download an app or use a website they provide: MEXC states that you should trade only through its official app and website, never transfer to strangers or other individuals’ addresses, and not make any off-platform trades (MEXC on preventing investment transfer scams, 2026-05-01).
- Letting you make a small profit or get a small “rebate” first: MEXC describes the tactic as paying out small rebates to build trust, then stealing funds on a large scale; the CIB also names small profits as the bait.
- Claiming to partner with an exchange or to represent it: MEXC warns that scam groups falsely claim to work with major platforms and use fake members who post profit screenshots. Binance states that it does not assign representatives to give investment advice.
- Asking for your password, verification codes or API keys to trade for you: exchange copy trading never needs the lead trader to touch your account, and BingX explicitly forbids lead traders to “access and manage trades on behalf of their copiers’ accounts”.
- Paying before you can withdraw: deposits, unfreezing fees, taxes and insufficient wagering volume are all excuses for refusing withdrawals listed by the CIB. MEXC also states that anyone asking you to pay before a withdrawal is very likely a scammer, and that you should not send another cent.
Signs 2 and 6 deserve a second look: the exchanges restrict even the lead traders on their own platforms. Binance forbids steering people to any off-platform service in a copy portfolio’s description; BingX’s rules for lead traders forbid publishing social media accounts, promising profits and operating copy traders’ accounts, and violations may lead to a warning, removal from the lead trader list and forfeiture of profit share obtained in violation (BingX prohibited practices for lead traders, BingX lead trader application guide). A “mentor” in a group who claims to be a top lead trader at some exchange while guaranteeing returns off the platform does not even meet that exchange’s rules.
Is a “private lead trading” invite code from a mentor a scam?
Not necessarily. Private lead trading is a real exchange feature: a Binance private portfolio can be copied only with an invite code or link, and its profit share can be set as high as 30% (public portfolios default to 10%); MEXC’s private mode is hidden from the home page and the lead trader leaderboard, with profit share of up to 50% (How to lead trade on Binance Futures, MEXC lead trader guide, 2026-09-20). So an invite code alone does not mean a scam, but check three more things:
- Open the exchange’s official app yourself, log in, and search for the lead trader on the copy trading page instead of tapping a link someone sent you. To see which domain a link they sent points to, compare it with the official domain table in crypto exchange scam types.
- Check the profit share rate. A private portfolio can be set much higher than a public one, so you hand over more of the same profit. Binance also forbids putting a private portfolio’s invite code in the nickname or description, and portfolios that do so are hidden.
- Check for a lock-up period. Binance lead traders can set a lock-up period of 7, 14 or 30 days; once a copy trader confirms, they cannot stop copying, adjust the portfolio stop-loss or transfer funds out during the lock-up period unless they use an unlock chance (1 per person by default; after it is used, a new one comes only after 30 days) (How to use Binance Futures copy trading, updated 2026-09-23).
Official copy trading rules at 6 exchanges compared
The table below covers each exchange’s futures copy trading minimum amount, profit share, requirements for becoming a lead trader, the stop-loss copy traders can set, and the risk warnings in the official guides. These are the rules of the exchanges’ built-in features; how copy trading fees and profit share are settled is covered separately in the real cost of copy trading.
| Exchange | Copy trader minimum | Profit share rate | Requirements to become a lead trader | Stop-loss copy traders can set | Official risk statement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | 10 USDT by default, total investment 10 to 300,000 USDT | Public portfolios 10% by default, adjusted by badge; private portfolios up to 30% | Lead trading amount of at least 500 USDT; the guide does not state identity verification | Portfolio stop-loss (USDT or %), take-profit/stop-loss on each position, opening slippage 0.1% to 3% | If the stop-loss amount is below the maintenance margin, “liquidation will still happen”; in extreme markets you may lose all your margin |
| OKX | 10 to 100,000 USDT per copy, cumulative cap 200,000 USDT | By lead trader tier, up to 30%; can be changed at most 3 times a month | Complete identity verification, have no open copy trading positions, and use futures or multi-currency margin mode; the account needs at least 500 USDT to be copied | Take-profit up to 150% and stop-loss up to 75% per trade; a total stop-loss can be set for a single lead trader | When margin is insufficient or the lead trader’s position is liquidated, copy trading positions may also be liquidated |
| Bybit | 100 USDT; lead traders can set it higher | Cadet 10%, Bronze 10%, Silver 12%, Gold 15% (Copy Trading Classic) | Apply with a sub-account; only USDT perpetual contracts are copied; the starter task requires transferring in at least 100 USDT | Take-profit/stop-loss set by return, for example a 10% stop-loss triggers at about −10% return | The lead trader’s PnL and followers’ PnL can differ because of different entry times and prices |
| Bitget | 50 USDT; the copy trading account must keep at least 50 USDT | 0% to 10% (lead trader guide) | Complete identity verification and create a lead trading project under the futures leaderboard | Take-profit/stop-loss ratio set per the lead trader’s settings; slippage 0.1% to 3%; leverage can be fixed at 1x to 10x | “Cryptocurrency trading involves significant risks, including the potential loss of your funds.” |
| BingX | 20 to 200,000 USDT per copy in per-order mode | Perpetual futures by tier: Bronze 10%, Silver 16%, Gold 20%, Diamond 32% | At least 110 USDT in assets in any futures account, a 30-day win rate of at least 40%, and at least 3 trades in 30 days | Take-profit/stop-loss can be set when you set up the copy, and changed later on an active copy | “Past performance of a BingX community member is not a reliable indicator of his future performance.” |
| MEXC | The two official guides say different things (see the copy trading cost breakdown) | 10% by default, can be changed once a day; up to 50% in private mode | Enter an email address and accept the lead trader agreement, with review in 1 to 2 business days; futures account equity of at least 100 USDT to lead trades | Account stop-loss: when equity reaches the threshold you set, copying ends and positions are closed at market | With auto margin top-up turned on, in extreme markets you “could lose all funds allocated to this trader” |
Table sources: Binance How to use futures copy trading, How to lead trade on futures; OKX copy trader FAQ, lead trader profit sharing rules (updated 2026-08-19), how to become a lead trader (updated 2026-08-19), futures lead trading guidelines, introduction to proportional copy trading (updated 2026-08-19); Bybit getting started for followers (updated 2026-10-15), profit sharing explained (updated 2026-02-25), how to become a lead trader (updated 2025-11-25), understanding lead trader performance (updated 2026-04-16); Bitget guide for copy traders, lead trader guide, copy trading modes compared (2023-12-14); BingX futures copy trading tutorial, lead trader application guide (updated 2025-11-06), guide to copy trading performance (updated 2026-05-20); MEXC lead trader guide, copy trading terms explained (2026-06-12).
Notes on the table: Bybit’s getting started page for followers has no risk warning section, so the risk statement in the table comes from the lead trader performance guide. Bybit’s lead trader requirements page was updated on 2025-11-25, earlier than the other exchanges’ pages. Bitget’s take-profit/stop-loss ratios come from the 2023-12-14 comparison of copy trading modes; the 2026-01-09 guide for copy traders does not state automatic stop-loss settings. BingX’s lead trader application guide is inconsistent about the risk score thresholds for each tier, so the table lists only the entry requirements.
The table shows two things. First, the bar for becoming a lead trader is low: Bybit’s starter task only requires transferring in 100 USDT, BingX’s entry requirements are met with 110 USDT in assets, a 40% win rate over 30 days and 3 trades, and the Binance, Bybit and MEXC guides do not state any performance threshold. A lead trader appearing on the leaderboard only means they meet the platform’s listing requirements; it does not mean the platform vouches for their performance. Second, every exchange gives copy traders their own stop-loss tools: Binance and MEXC offer a stop-loss for the whole copy portfolio, and OKX lets you set a total stop-loss for a single lead trader. Set it before you start copying and your loss has a ceiling.
How to read a lead trader’s page: ROI, maximum drawdown, AUM and copy traders’ PnL
The usual numbers on a lead trader’s page are ROI, PnL, maximum drawdown (MDD), win rate, assets under management (AUM) and copy traders’ PnL. The names look the same, but each exchange calculates them differently:
| Metric | Binance | OKX | Bybit | BingX | MEXC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROI | Calculated on net asset value, unaffected by deposits and withdrawals | Profit ÷ cost, where cost includes transfers in and out | Total profit ÷ (previous account equity + new deposits), updated daily | The denominator is the highest-ever base principal and is not lowered after a large withdrawal | Total profit ÷ historical margin used for copy trading |
| Win rate | Not defined in the official guide | Guide to choosing lead traders: profitable trades ÷ total trades; copy trader FAQ: profitable days ÷ lead trading days | Defined as trades with realized profit ÷ closed trades, but the formula also counts open positions with positive unrealized PnL | Not defined in this guide | Trades closed with positive PnL ÷ all closed trades |
| Maximum drawdown | (Peak net asset value − subsequent low) ÷ peak net asset value | Not defined separately; weighted only in the overall ranking, at 10% historical and 10% weekly | The lead trader’s largest unrealized loss over the past month | The largest drop in net asset value from a peak to a low | Not defined in this guide |
| AUM | Sortable, not defined in the guide | Total value of assets all copy traders are currently copying with | Total amount invested by all followers over the past 30 days | Not defined in this guide | “Lead trading size”: total assets in all copy traders’ copy trading accounts right now |
Sources: Binance criteria for selecting lead traders, OKX how to choose a lead trader (updated 2026-08-26), OKX copy trader FAQ, Bybit understanding lead trader performance, BingX guide to copy trading performance, MEXC copy trading terms explained.
In practice, this means you cannot compare the same lead trader’s ROI and win rate at exchange A with the numbers at exchange B. Bybit’s win rate formula includes trades still open and temporarily in profit, the OKX copy trader FAQ uses “profitable days”, and MEXC counts only closed trades. BingX’s own guide is also inconsistent: the ROI formula in the body differs from the “time-weighted compounding” described in its FAQ. Comparing lead traders on the same platform is more meaningful.
Maximum drawdown: the deeper the drawdown, the harder it is to break even
Maximum drawdown is the largest drop in net asset value from a peak to a low, and shows the deepest paper loss the copied funds have faced. The gain needed to break even is “drawdown ÷ (1 − drawdown)”, not the same percentage:
| Maximum drawdown | Return needed to get from the low back to the peak | 1,000 USDT falls to | Needs to earn back |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | 11.1% | 900 USDT | 100 USDT |
| 20% | 25% | 800 USDT | 200 USDT |
| 30% | 42.9% | 700 USDT | 300 USDT |
| 50% | 100% | 500 USDT | 500 USDT |
| 70% | 233.3% | 300 USDT | 700 USDT |
The math: with a 50% drawdown, 500 USDT has to rise 100% to get back to 1,000 USDT. BingX’s guide suggests using “ROI ÷ maximum drawdown” to look at risk-adjusted return, with 2.0 or above considered healthy, and recommends looking at 180-day performance rather than only the short term (BingX guide to copy trading performance). Binance also states “A short-term perspective may hide past failures and poor performance”; if you look only at 7-day ROI, you may miss a big loss the lead trader took earlier. Note that Bybit’s maximum drawdown covers only the past month, so earlier drawdowns do not show up.
A high win rate does not mean profit
MEXC’s win rate is the share of trades closed with positive PnL. It counts only how often a trade wins, not how much each trade makes or loses. Say a lead trader always uses 100 USDT of margin at 10x leverage, and out of 10 trades, 9 make 5% each (price moves 0.5% in their favor) while 1 loses 60% (price moves 6% against them):
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Winning trades | 9 trades × 5 USDT = 45 USDT |
| Losing trades | 1 trade × 60 USDT = 60 USDT |
| Win rate | 9 ÷ 10 = 90% |
| Total (before fees and profit share) | 45 − 60 = −15 USDT |
A 90% win rate, and the lead trader is still down 15 USDT overall; take off the fee on every trade and the loss gets bigger. The “P/L ratio” (total profit ÷ total loss) on MEXC’s page exists to show exactly this; in this example it is 45 ÷ 60 = 0.75, and anything below 1 means less was made than lost. Bybit’s “Profit-to-Loss Ratio” is average profit per trade ÷ average loss per trade, here 5 ÷ 60, or about 0.08.
Copy traders’ PnL is closer to your result than the lead trader’s ROI
Binance states “a profitable leader doesn’t always translate to a profitable copy trader” and suggests that copy traders look at copy traders’ own PnL; Bybit also explains that the lead trader’s PnL and followers’ PnL can differ because of different entry times and prices. If the lead trader’s ROI looks great but copy traders’ combined PnL is negative, it may mean many people got in only after performance peaked. OKX’s overall ranking gives the number of copy traders and copy traders’ total PnL a combined weight of 35% for the same reason.
It also helps to know how lead traders earn. Besides profit share of up to 30%, Binance lead traders receive 10% of copy traders’ trading fees as commission, capped weekly at “min[total fees × 10%, copy portfolio margin × 3% × 10%]” (Binance lead trader benefits, updated 2026-09-22). Profit share is earned only by making you money; the fee commission grows the more they trade. How much high-frequency trading hurts copy traders is worked out in full in the real cost of copy trading.
Checklist before you copy
Whether you pick from the leaderboard yourself or someone recommends a lead trader to you, go through these items before you copy:
- Can you find them in the official app? Log in to the exchange yourself and search for the lead trader’s name on the copy trading page; do not tap links others send you.
- Does the money leave your account? Copy trading funds only move from your spot, funding or futures account to your own copy trading account. If you are asked to send money to any other address, stop right there.
- Is the performance period long enough? Look at least 90 days, ideally 180, and check it against the maximum drawdown; for a lead trader with too few trading days, one or two trades can sway the numbers.
- Can you live with the maximum drawdown? Use the table above: a 30% drawdown needs a 42.9% gain to break even, so first ask yourself whether you can accept losing that much of your copy amount.
- Is copy traders’ PnL positive? If the lead trader’s ROI and copy traders’ PnL point in different directions, find out why.
- AUM and how much of their own money the lead trader has in: Bitget lets lead traders choose not to show their total assets, and when you cannot see it, you have one less thing to judge by.
- Profit share rate and lock-up period: the profit share is on the lead trader’s page; with a Binance portfolio that has a lock-up period, you cannot stop copying during it.
- Leverage and trading frequency: the “Trading Frequency” on a MEXC lead trader’s page is the average number of trades per week. The higher the frequency and leverage, the more you pay in fees and the easier it is to get liquidated.
- Set a stop-loss before you start: use a portfolio stop-loss or a total stop-loss for a single lead trader to set the maximum loss for this copy. BingX also suggests testing with a small amount before adding more.
What are the risks of exchange copy trading? What the exchanges say
Exchange copy trading is not a scam, but the risk of loss is real, and every exchange spells it out in its guides. Futures copy trading uses leverage; if the market moves against you, a position may be forcibly liquidated and you can lose the entire copy margin. You can estimate the liquidation price with the liquidation price calculator.
- If the lead trader is liquidated, you may be too: the OKX copy trader FAQ states that copy trading positions may be liquidated when the copy trader’s margin is insufficient or when the lead trader’s position is liquidated.
- A stop-loss may not hold: Binance states that if the portfolio stop-loss is below the maintenance margin, liquidation will still happen, and in extreme markets you may lose all your margin.
- Auto margin top-up can drag your whole copy amount down: MEXC’s “auto margin top-up” uses your copy trading balance to add margin, and in extreme markets you could lose all the funds allocated to that lead trader; if you choose “do not follow” instead, your position stays open when the lead trader is liquidated, and you have to deal with it yourself.
- Slippage protection covers only opening: Binance’s maximum slippage protects only the opening price, not the closing price; at OKX, a trade is not copied if the opening price is more than 0.5% away from the lead trader’s (OKX copy trading FAQ, updated 2026-08-26).
- Past performance does not guarantee the future: Binance and BingX both state that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results, and BingX also states that it remains high risk “even when copying or replicating the top-performing traders”.
For each exchange’s futures margin, leverage and liquidation rules, see the Binance futures guide, OKX futures guide, Bybit futures guide, Bitget futures guide, BingX futures guide and MEXC futures guide.
What to do if a signal group scammed you
- Stop paying first: whether they say it is a deposit, tax or unfreezing fee, do not send another cent.
- Call 165 to check or report (Taiwan): you can call the 165 anti-fraud hotline or check the 165 anti-fraud website (165全民防騙網). The CIB also runs the “165 anti-fraud awareness” LINE official account, where you can look up scam LINE IDs, fake investment websites and scam phone numbers.
- Keep the evidence: chat logs, transfer records, wallet addresses and transaction hashes (TxID); you will need them when you report.
- Watch out for a second scam: people who claim they can recover your money but want a fee first are also using a scam tactic, covered in crypto exchange scam types and how to spot them; for fake exchanges that block withdrawals under various pretexts, see fake exchange withdrawal scams.
- Act right away if your account details leaked: if you handed over a password, verification code or API key, report it through customer support inside the exchange’s official app, change your password and delete the API key.
FAQ
Is copy trading a scam?
Copy trading built into an exchange’s app is not a scam; the scams are mostly signal groups outside the exchange. With exchange copy trading, the funds stay in a copy trading account under your own account and the system settles profit share at a published rate. Any “copy trading” that asks you to move money to a website, app or wallet address the other side specifies is not exchange copy trading.
Is signal trading by a “mentor” in a LINE group real?
It is not exchange copy trading. The CIB states, “If you are asked to add someone on LINE to invest, it is always a scam.” Exchange copy trading does not require joining a group; Binance may take down copy portfolios that steer people to off-platform services or guarantee risk-free copy trading, and BingX forbids lead traders from promising profits or publishing their social media accounts. Signal trading in a group that guarantees returns does not even meet the exchanges’ rules for lead traders.
Is exchange copy trading safe? Can you lose everything?
You can lose money with exchange copy trading, and with futures copy trading you can lose all the margin you put into a copy. OKX states that copy trading positions may also be liquidated when the lead trader’s position is liquidated; Binance states that in extreme markets you may lose all your margin. Before you copy, set a portfolio stop-loss or a total stop-loss for the lead trader, and only use money you can afford to lose.
Is Bitget copy trading a scam?
Bitget copy trading is a feature inside Bitget’s official app. The funds sit in a copy trading account separate from the main account and go back to your spot or funding account when you stop copying. What to watch out for are groups or websites that use Bitget’s name: operate only in the official app, and do not send USDT to anyone who claims to be a Bitget lead trader. The Bitget copy trading minimum is 50 USDT, and the lead trader guide gives a profit share rate of 0% to 10%.
How do I choose a lead trader on Binance?
Binance’s copy trading page shows 7-, 30-, 90- and 180-day ROI, PnL, maximum drawdown, AUM, number of copy traders, copy traders’ PnL and the Sharpe ratio. Look at performance over longer periods together with maximum drawdown and copy traders’ PnL, rather than short-term ROI alone. Besides profit share, lead traders receive 10% of copy traders’ fees as commission, so factor in trading frequency too.
Do I have to transfer the profit share to the lead trader separately?
No. Exchanges settle profit share automatically: Bybit settles every Monday, OKX every Monday at 00:00 (Taiwan time), and nothing is charged for a settlement period with a net loss. Anyone who asks you to transfer money privately, pay a membership fee or send “dividends” to a mentor is not offering exchange copy trading.
A mentor gave me a private lead trading invite code. Should I copy?
Private lead trading is a real feature at Binance and MEXC, and an invite code alone does not mean a scam, but profit share can be set higher: up to 30% for Binance private portfolios and up to 50% in MEXC private mode. Log in to the official app yourself to confirm the lead trader exists, and check the profit share rate; if a Binance portfolio has a lock-up period, you cannot stop copying or transfer funds out during it.
What is the minimum for copy trading?
It depends on the exchange: Binance and OKX start at 10 USDT, Bitget at 50 USDT, Bybit at 100 USDT, and BingX requires at least 20 USDT per copy in per-order mode. Lead traders can set a higher minimum copy amount, so check the lead trader’s page before you copy.
For how copy trading profit share, fees and slippage are calculated, see the real cost of copy trading; for fake support, fake apps and fake rebates that use exchanges’ names, see crypto exchange scam types and how to spot them and rebate scam warning signs; for futures funding fees and trading fees, see what is the funding rate and how futures fees are calculated. If you want to open an exchange account to copy trade, referral codes for each exchange are collected in crypto exchange referral codes, for example the Binance referral code, OKX referral code, Bitget referral code, BingX referral code and MEXC referral code.