How Martingale Works on Deriv
Martingale raises your stake after every loss. It can recover losses with a single win, but it also makes losing streaks grow fast. Here is exactly what it does.
What a Martingale does
A Martingale is a progression strategy: it decides your next stake based on the result of the last trade. After a loss, the stake is multiplied. After a win, it returns to the starting stake. The idea is that the first win after a losing run covers those losses.
In Tradely you choose it from the Progression Strategies dropdown in the Trading Panel. Martingale has a Multiplier setting and a Max steps option. The same dropdown also lists d'Alembert, Labouchere (Cancellation), Fibonacci, Grand Martingale and Oscar's Grind, among others.
A worked example
Start with a 10 USD stake and a multiplier of 2.2. If every trade loses, the stake climbs like this:
| Consecutive loss | Next stake (USD) | Total staked so far (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Trade 1 | 10.00 | 10.00 |
| Trade 2 | 22.00 | 32.00 |
| Trade 3 | 48.40 | 80.40 |
| Trade 4 | 106.48 | 186.88 |
| Trade 5 | 234.26 | 421.14 |
| Trade 6 | 515.36 | 936.50 |
| Trade 7 | 1,133.80 | 2,070.30 |
| Trade 8 | 2,494.36 | 4,564.66 |
Stake growth after consecutive losses with a 2.2 multiplier.
After six losses in a row you would have staked 936.50 USD in total, and the seventh trade would risk 1,133.80 USD. Your stake grows far faster than your first trade suggests.
The risks
A Martingale needs a win to come before your balance or your limits run out. Every loss makes the next stake bigger, so the longer a losing run lasts, the more is at risk on a single trade. Payouts on binary contracts are below 100% of the stake, so recovering a loss can take more than one win.
Nothing about a past losing streak makes a win more likely on the next trade. Treat it as a way of sizing stakes, not a way of predicting outcomes.
How to keep it under control in Tradely
- Keep the starting stake small compared with your balance.
- Turn on risk management and set a stop loss and take profit, so the assistant stops at limits you chose.
- Check the Max steps option. When it is off, the app notes that the ladder never resets.
- Test on a Deriv demo account first and review drawdown and largest loss in Trade analytics.
Test a progression strategy on a demo account before using real money.
Get StartedFrequently asked questions
- What is a Martingale strategy?
- A Martingale is a progression strategy that increases your stake by a set multiplier after each losing trade, so that one win can recover earlier losses. It resets to the starting stake after a win.
- Is Martingale safe?
- No strategy removes risk. Because stakes grow exponentially, a run of losses can become very large, and you can lose your entire balance. Use a stop loss, keep the first stake small and test on a demo account.
- Where is Martingale in Tradely?
- In the Trading Panel, open the Progression Strategies dropdown and choose Martingale. It has a Multiplier setting and a Max steps option.
Keep reading
- Staking strategy guidesMartingale, d'Alembert, Fibonacci, Kelly and more, with worked examples.
- Grand MartingaleGrand Martingale is Martingale with an extra step: after a loss you double the stake and add one more unit.
- d'Alembertd'Alembert is a gentler cousin of Martingale: it moves your stake up and down one unit at a time instead of multiplying it.
- Rise/Fall assistantRise/Fall is the classic binary contract: predict whether the market will end above or below where it started. Tradely can place and track these trades for you.
Risk warning: Trading binary options involves a high level of risk and you could lose your entire stake. Only trade with money you can afford to lose. This page is educational and is not financial advice.