The pitch shows up everywhere: put a small amount on a crypto future, use enough leverage, take +10% and stop for the day. Ten percent of a small account is a small number, so it sounds modest. Leverage is supposed to do the rest.

We wanted a straight answer, so we simulated it. Every day, the same margin goes in, and the day ends at +10%, at the stop, at liquidation, or at midnight. We tried four ways of picking a direction, five leverage levels and four stop sizes, on almost three years of BTC, ETH and SOL data.

The answer is no, and the way it fails is worth understanding, because it's the same trap at every leverage level.

How the test worked

Markets BTC, ETH and SOL perpetual futures, 1-hour candles

Main period 1 Jan 2024 to 7 Nov 2026 (1,042 days)

Check period 2020 to 2023, to see whether anything held up on other years

Each day ‚Ǩ100 of margin, isolated.…