How do BaseCurrency and SyncSymbolsOnStartup work?

Symbol Management Configuration

MagicTradeBot provides flexible symbol management through two important configuration settings:

  • BaseCurrency
  • SyncSymbolsOnStartup

Together, these settings control which trading pairs are loaded and how exchange symbol data is initialized and maintained.

1️⃣ BaseCurrency

BaseCurrency defines which quote currency pairs the bot will load from the exchange.

What It Does

Exchanges support hundreds or thousands of trading pairs. For example:

  • BTC/USDT
  • ETH/USDT
  • SOL/USDT
  • BTC/USDC
  • ETH/BTC
  • XRP/BUSD

When you set:

BaseCurrency = USDT

The bot will:

  • Fetch exchange symbols
  • Filter only trading pairs ending with USDT
  • Ignore all other quote currencies

Loaded:

  • ✔ BTC/USDT
  • ✔ ETH/USDT
  • ✔ SOL/USDT

Ignored:

  • ✖ BTC/USDC
  • ✖ ETH/BTC
  • ✖ XRP/BUSD

If instead you set:

BaseCurrency = USDC

Then only USDC-based pairs will be loaded.

Why This Matters

  • Ensures clean market scope
  • Prevents accidental trading on the wrong quote currency
  • Improves capital allocation control
  • Maintains strategy consistency

2️⃣ SyncSymbolsOnStartup

SyncSymbolsOnStartup controls whether the bot automatically synchronizes exchange symbol metadata at startup.

What Happens When Enabled?

When:

SyncSymbolsOnStartup = true

The bot will:

  1. Fetch all supported trading symbols from the exchange.
  2. Initialize each symbol with critical trading parameters:
    • Minimum Quantity
    • Step Size
    • Tick Size
    • Price Precision
    • Quantity Precision
  3. Store the processed symbols into:
symbols.json

These parameters are critical because exchanges reject orders that violate:

  • Incorrect quantity precision
  • Invalid price increments
  • Minimum order size rules

Without proper initialization, order placement would fail.

🚀 First-Time Setup Recommendation

If you are running the bot for the first time:

SyncSymbolsOnStartup = true

Expected Behavior

  • All filtered symbols (based on BaseCurrency) will be fetched.
  • They will be initialized and saved into symbols.json.

After this process completes:

  1. Stop the bot.
  2. Review the symbols.json file.

🎯 Running the Bot for Specific Pairs Only

If you want to trade only specific pairs, for example:

  • BTC
  • ETH
  • SOL
  • XRP

Step 1 – Edit symbols.json

Remove all unwanted symbols and leave only your preferred ones.

[
  "BTCUSDT",
  "ETHUSDT",
  "SOLUSDT",
  "XRPUSDT"
]

Step 2 – Disable Symbol Sync

Set:

SyncSymbolsOnStartup = false

Why This Is Important

If SyncSymbolsOnStartup remains true, the bot will:

  • Re-fetch all symbols
  • Overwrite your manual filtering
  • Restore the full symbol list

By setting it to false, you effectively lock your symbol selection.

🧠 Summary

Setting Purpose
BaseCurrency Filters which quote currency pairs are loaded
SyncSymbolsOnStartup = true Fetches and initializes all exchange symbols
SyncSymbolsOnStartup = false Prevents re-sync and preserves your custom symbol list

🔧 Typical Workflow

First Run

BaseCurrency = USDT
SyncSymbolsOnStartup = true

Run → symbols.json created → Stop bot

Production Mode (Selected Pairs Only)

Edit symbols.json
SyncSymbolsOnStartup = false

Run bot with locked symbols.

Benefits of This Design

  • Full automatic exchange synchronization
  • Precision-safe order placement
  • Manual control when needed
  • Production-grade symbol locking

📎 Related Topics