Spot trading
Spot trading means buying and selling coins you actually own, paid in full, with no borrowing. Definition, how it differs from futures and why it limits losses.
Definition
Buying and selling coins outright, paid in full with money you have, so you own what you buy and can never lose more than you put in.
Spot trading is the plainest kind of trading: you pay for a coin in full and it is yours. Selling it later returns cash. There is no borrowing, no expiry date and no liquidation.
Example
You buy $50 of BTC on the spot market. If BTC falls 10%, your position is worth $45. If it falls 50%, it is worth $25. However far it falls, you cannot lose more than the $50 you spent.
Why it matters
Futures and margin trading let you borrow to take a bigger position. Gains and losses are multiplied, and a move against you can close the position automatically before any stop-loss acts. Spot trading keeps risk tied to the amount you actually put in, which makes limits like a budget and a daily loss cap meaningful.
How TradeCorgi uses it
Every TradeCorgi agent trades spot only, with no leverage, on every exchange and every plan. An agent's budget is the most it can ever have at risk, and its stop-loss and daily loss limit cap how much of that it can lose.
A common mistake
Assuming a strategy that worked with leverage will work the same on spot. Without borrowing, gains and losses are smaller, so targets, stops and sizes need to be tested again on spot with fees.