Comparison of PnL from Copy Trade History and PnL from Order History

In copy trading, some followers might asked: "Why are my PnL from copy trade history not match with the PnL from order history?" 

This is because both side of PnL is calculated differently. The PnL under the Copy Trade History is calculated per order based on the Open Price (which is executed in market price), while the PnL under [Order History] is calculated per position based on Average Entry Price (which will change when positions are overlapped).

 

When elite trader(s) open multiple positions in the same Futures contract and direction (long/short), copy trade history only captures each of the transaction details (open price, average close price and PnL). In actual fact, these copied positions are basically merged and it generates the Average Entry Price which is used to calculate the "finalised" PnL when one party (either elite trader or follower) closes a position or even partially closes the position.

 

For example with a table below: Follower A copied three BTC/USDT long positions in USDT-M Futures contract from elite trader B. After sometimes, elite trader B closed the previous two trades at the same time, with the third trade still continues.

No.	Open Timestamp	Close timestamp	Position	Leverage	Long/Short	Open Price	Avg Close Price	Margin (USDT)	Quantity (BTC)	Realised PnL (USDT)
CT1	01:00	08:00	BTC/USDT	50	Long	28000	28100	56	0.1	10
CT2	02:00	08:00	BTC/USDT	50	Long	28050	28100	56.1	0.1	5
CT3	04:00	Still ongoing	BTC/USDT	50	Long	29000	N/A	58	0.1	N/A

 

*Assuming no trading fees involved in this example.

 

To calculate the realised PnL in Copy Trade History, we use the following formula:

Realised PnL for long position = Quantity * (Close Price - Open Price)

 

Realised PnL (CT1) = Quantity * (Close Price - Open Price)

= 0.1 * (28100 - 28000)

 = 10 USDT 

 

Realised PnL (CT2) = Quantity * (Close Price - Open Price)

= 0.1 * (28100 - 28050)

 = 5 USDT 

 

CT3 is an ongoing copy trade in this case.

 

*Please be informed that these PnL are not finalised yet.

However, follower A realised that the two copied positions are not making profits but losses instead when comparing the result in [Order History].

No.	Timestamp	Direction	Futures	Order Type	Close Price	Quantity	Realised PnL (USDT)
CT1	08:00	Close Long	BTC/USDT	Copy Trade Order	28100	0.1	-25
CT2	08:00	Close Long	BTC/USDT	Copy Trade Order	28100	0.1	-25

*Assuming no trading fees involved in this example.

In the second table, the two positions which were closed by elite trader B, shows a different PnL in [Order History] accordingly because the PnL from [Order History] uses the Average Entry Price to calculate the PnL (finalised).

Thus, we replace Open Price (from Copy Trade History) with the Average Entry Price in the formula. To generate the Average Entry Price, it is recommended to use Futures calculator.

Realised PnL for long position = Quantity * (Close Price - Average Entry Price)

Realised PnL (CT1) = Quantity * (Close Price - Average Entry Price)

= 0.1 * (28100 - 28350)

 = -25 USDT 

 

Realised PnL (CT2) = Quantity * (Close Price - Average Entry Price)

= 0.1 * (28100 - 28350)

 = -25 USDT 

 

 

When you open multiple positions in the same trading pair/contract and direction, positions will be overlapped and each price will be averaged. We do not use Average Entry Price if there is no existing position(s) before you start a new trade (or copy from elite trader). If there is only one copied position, Open price (Copy Trade History) will be the same as entry price in [Order History].

The same scenario applies to a follower who copied from multiple elite traders where a new Average Entry Price is generated whenever this follower copies new trades from different elite traders.

Related articles:

Profit & Loss (PnL) in Futures Trading