You know you should journal your trades. Every successful trader says so. But what exactly do you log? Entry price, exit price... then what?
This guide gives you a complete template for crypto trading journaling. Every field explained. Every reason justified. Copy it, customize it, and start building the data that improves your trading.
If you log nothing else, log these five fields:
| Field |
Example |
Purpose |
| Asset |
BTC/USDT |
Filter by what you trade |
| Direction |
Long |
Compare long vs short |
| Entry price |
$67,450 |
Calculate P&L |
| Exit price |
$69,200 |
Calculate P&L |
| P&L |
+$175 |
Track performance |
This is the bare minimum. It tells you whether you made or lost money. But it does not tell you WHY. For that, you need context.
| Field |
Type |
Example |
| Trade ID |
Auto-increment |
#127 |
| Date |
Date |
Oct 6, 2026 |
| Asset |
Text |
ETH/USDT |
| Exchange |
Text |
Binance |
| Direction |
Long/Short |
Long |
| Field |
Type |
Example |
| Entry price |
Number |
$3,245.50 |
| Entry time |
DateTime |
14:32 UTC |
| Position size |
Number |
2 ETH |
| Position value |
Calculated |
$6,491 |
| Entry fees |
Number |
$6.49 |
For perpetual futures, add:
| Field |
Type |
Example |
| Leverage |
Number |
5x |
| Margin used |
Number |
$1,298.20 |
| Liquidation price |
Number |
$2,596.40 |
| Funding rate at entry |
Percentage |
+0.0082% |
| Field |
Type |
Example |
| Exit price |
Number |
$3,378.00 |
| Exit time |
DateTime |
18:45 UTC |
| Exit fees |
Number |
$6.80 |
| Exit type |
Dropdown |
Take Profit / Stop Loss / Manual / Liquidation |
| Hold duration |
Calculated |
4h 13m |
For perpetual futures, add:
| Field |
Type |
Example |
| Total funding paid |
Number |
-$2.14 |
| Funding intervals held |
Number |
1 |
| Field |
Calculation |
Example |
| Gross P&L |
(Exit - Entry) × Size |
+$265.00 |
| Total fees |
Entry + Exit fees |
-$13.29 |
| Funding cost |
Sum of funding |
-$2.14 |
| Net P&L |
Gross - Fees - Funding |
+$249.57 |
| Return on capital |
Net P&L / Position value |
+3.84% |
| Return on margin |
Net P&L / Margin (perps) |
+19.2% |
| Field |
Options |
Purpose |
| Strategy |
Breakout, Reversal, Trend Follow, Range, Scalp, Swing, News, Signal-based |
Filter by approach |
| Setup type |
Custom (e.g., "Funding flip at support") |
Identify winning setups |
| Timeframe |
1m, 5m, 15m, 1H, 4H, Daily |
Optimal timeframe analysis |
| Setup quality |
A+, A, B, C |
Selectivity analysis |
| Field |
Options |
Purpose |
| Pre-trade emotion |
Confident, Calm, Uncertain, Anxious, FOMO, Revenge, Greedy |
Correlate mood and results |
| Post-trade emotion |
Same options |
Track emotional journey |
| Rule following |
Yes / Partial / No |
Process compliance |
| Plan adherence |
Followed plan / Deviated |
Discipline tracking |
| Field |
Type |
Example |
| Entry reasoning |
Text |
"Funding flipped negative after 3-day positive run. Price holding $3,200 support. OI declining suggests short covering." |
| Exit reasoning |
Text |
"Hit initial target at resistance. Chose not to hold for extended target." |
| Post-trade review |
Text |
"Good entry, maybe exited too early. Price continued to $3,420. Consider wider targets on strong setups." |
| Lessons |
Text |
"Funding reversions have momentum. Trail stops instead of fixed TP." |
| Field |
Type |
Purpose |
| BTC price at entry |
Number |
Macro correlation |
| Market condition |
Trending Up / Trending Down / Ranging / Volatile |
Regime analysis |
| News/catalyst |
Text |
Event-driven trade tracking |
| Correlated moves |
Text |
Multi-asset awareness |
For Google Sheets or Excel:
Trade ID | Date | Asset | Direction | Entry Price | Entry Time | Size | Value | Entry Fee | Exit Price | Exit Time | Exit Fee | Exit Type | Gross P&L | Net P&L | Strategy | Setup Quality | Pre-Emotion | Post-Emotion | Rule Following | Entry Notes | Exit Notes | Lessons
Create a second sheet for:
- Summary statistics (win rate, profit factor)
- Charts (equity curve, P&L by asset)
- Funding fee tracker (if trading perps)
Create a database with these properties:
- Trade ID (Number, auto-increment)
- Date (Date)
- Asset (Select: BTC, ETH, SOL, etc.)
- Direction (Select: Long, Short)
- All number fields as Number type
- All text fields as Text type
- Dropdowns as Select with predefined options
Add formulas for calculated fields:
- Net P&L = Gross P&L - Entry Fee - Exit Fee
- Return % = Net P&L / Position Value × 100
Track which assets make you money:
| Asset |
Trades |
Win Rate |
Net P&L |
| BTC |
45 |
58% |
+$2,340 |
| ETH |
32 |
54% |
+$890 |
| SOL |
28 |
46% |
-$120 |
| Altcoins |
40 |
38% |
-$1,450 |
- Action: Stop trading altcoins. Focus on BTC.
| Direction |
Win Rate |
Avg Win |
Avg Loss |
| Long |
56% |
$245 |
$180 |
| Short |
48% |
$310 |
$290 |
- Action: You are better at longs. Be more selective with shorts.
| Strategy |
Trades |
Win Rate |
Profit Factor |
| Breakout |
35 |
62% |
1.95 |
| Reversal |
28 |
43% |
0.85 |
| Trend follow |
42 |
58% |
1.67 |
- Action: Stop reversal trading. It loses money.
| Emotion |
Win Rate |
Avg P&L |
| Confident |
61% |
+$145 |
| Calm |
57% |
+$98 |
| Uncertain |
42% |
-$45 |
| FOMO |
28% |
-$210 |
| Revenge |
22% |
-$380 |
- Action: Never trade FOMO or revenge. Walk away.
| Hour (UTC) |
Win Rate |
Net P&L |
| 00-04 |
51% |
+$340 |
| 04-08 |
54% |
+$520 |
| 08-12 |
58% |
+$890 |
| 12-16 |
55% |
+$650 |
| 16-20 |
47% |
-$120 |
| 20-24 |
44% |
-$280 |
- Action: You perform worst in evening hours. Consider stopping at 16:00.
Do not worry about analysis. Just log every trade with the minimum fields. Build the habit of immediate logging.
Start adding notes, emotions, and strategy tags. This takes 2-3 extra minutes but creates the data you need.
After 30+ trades, do your first comprehensive review. Look for patterns. Identify one thing to change.
Every weekend, spend 30 minutes reviewing the week. Ask:
- What worked?
- What did not?
- What will I do differently?
Manual journaling works until:
- You take 5+ trades daily
- CSV imports become tedious
- You want real-time sync
- You want AI analysis
Thrive (free tier available):
- Manual entry with automatic calculations
- Basic analytics included
- Upgrade to Pro for exchange sync and AI coaching
Create free account
- Tradervue (traditional markets focus)
- TradeZella (newer entrant)
- Edgewonk (desktop-based)
Once you have 50+ trades logged, build these metrics:
Win Rate = Winning Trades / Total Trades × 100
Profit Factor = Gross Wins / Gross Losses
Expectancy = (Win Rate × Avg Win) - (Loss Rate × Avg Loss)
Average R = Average P&L / Average Risk per Trade
Max Drawdown = Largest peak-to-trough decline
Average Drawdown Duration = Days to recover from drawdowns
Sharpe Ratio = (Return - Risk-free rate) / Standard Deviation
Plan Adherence Rate = Trades following rules / Total trades
FOMO Trade Rate = FOMO trades / Total trades
Revenge Trade Rate = Revenge trades / Total trades
You do not need fancy tools. Open a spreadsheet right now. Add the column headers. Log your next trade.
The best journal is the one you actually use. Start simple. Add complexity as you need it. But start.
Your future self will thank you for the data you are about to create.
Ready to go beyond spreadsheets?
Create a free Thrive account for structured trade logging with:
- Built-in P&L calculation
- Basic performance analytics
- Emotion and strategy tags
- No credit card required
Create free account
Want exchange sync, funding tracking, and AI coaching?
Start a paid plan of Pro.
Get Pro
Yes. Skip the perpetuals-specific fields (leverage, funding, liquidation price) and use the rest.
Detailed enough that you can understand the trade 6 months later. "Bought the dip" tells you nothing. "Bought after funding flipped negative with price holding support" tells you everything.
Optional. Tracking maximum favorable excursion (MFE) and maximum adverse excursion (MAE) reveals whether you are exiting too early or holding too long.
Log each entry and exit separately. Or consolidate into one trade record with average entry and average exit. Be consistent with whichever approach you choose.
Log each partial as a separate row, or create a parent trade with child entries. Spreadsheets struggle with this; purpose-built journals handle it better.
Google Sheets works on mobile. Thrive's web app is responsive. Notion has a mobile app. All are usable on phones, though desktop is easier for complex entries.
