Trade Review Checklist Crypto: The Ultimate Pre and Post Trade Template
Surgeons use checklists. Pilots use checklists. The best crypto traders use checklists. This guide gives you the complete trade review checklist—covering pre-trade planning, during-trade management, and post-trade analysis—so you never miss a critical step again.
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- Use a three-phase checklist: pre-trade (before entry), during-trade (while active), and post-trade (after close).
- Checklist compliance correlates directly with trading results. Full compliance traders outperform partial compliance by 23% win rate.
- Thrive integrates checklist thinking into trade logging—tracking compliance and correlating it with your performance.
Why Checklists Work (And Why Most Traders Don't Use Them)
In 2009, surgeon Atul Gawande published "The Checklist Manifesto," documenting how simple checklists reduced surgical deaths by 47% at hospitals worldwide. The surgeons weren't bad at their jobs—they just occasionally forgot steps under pressure.
Trading is the same. You know what you should do. You've read the books. You've studied the strategies. But in the heat of the moment—when the market is moving and emotions are running—you forget. You skip the risk check. You enter without confirming the setup. You close without documenting.
A checklist is a forcing function. It ensures that you complete critical steps regardless of your emotional state. It turns trading from an activity driven by impulse into a process governed by discipline.
So why don't most traders use checklists?
- They think it's too basic for "experienced" traders
- They believe it will slow them down and cause missed opportunities
- They don't have a good checklist template
- They haven't experienced the pain of repeated mistakes badly enough
The irony: the traders who think they don't need checklists are often the ones who need them most.
Complete Trade Review Checklist
Items marked "Required" are non-negotiable. Never skip them.
Pre-Trade Checklist: Before You Enter
The pre-trade checklist is your gatekeeper. Its job is to prevent bad trades from ever happening. If a trade can't pass every required item, you don't take it. Period.
1. Is This a Valid Setup According to My Rules?
This is the most important question. Not "does this look good?" or "do I feel bullish?" but specifically: does this trade meet my documented criteria for a valid setup?
If you don't have documented criteria, that's your first problem. You need written rules that define what makes a trade worth taking. Without them, every decision is subjective—and subjective decisions under pressure trend toward bad.
2. Is the Higher Timeframe Trend Aligned?
Trading against the trend is playing on hard mode. Before entering, check the higher timeframe. If you're taking a long on the 15-minute chart, what does the 4-hour look like? The daily?
Counter-trend trades can work, but they're lower probability. Your checklist should note when you're trading with the trend vs. against it.
3. Are Entry, Stop, and Target Defined?
Before you click buy or sell, you need three numbers:
- Entry price: Where exactly you're getting in
- Stop loss: Where you're wrong (non-negotiable)
- Take profit: Where you'll exit if right
If you can't define these before entering, you're not ready to take the trade.
4. Is Position Size Calculated Correctly?
Position sizing is where most traders blow up. Your checklist should include the actual calculation:
- Account size × Risk percentage = Dollar risk
- Dollar risk ÷ (Entry - Stop) = Position size
Never skip this. Never "round up" because you feel confident. The math is the math.
Read more: Understanding Risk-Adjusted Performance
5. Is Risk:Reward Acceptable?
With your stop and target defined, calculate the risk:reward ratio. Is it at least 1:2? Lower ratios require higher win rates to be profitable. Most traders should avoid trades under 1:1.5 risk:reward.
6. Any Upcoming News Events?
Check the calendar. Is there a Fed announcement in 30 minutes? A major crypto event? Entering right before known volatility events is usually a mistake.
During-Trade Checklist: While the Position Is Active
Most trading mistakes happen after entry. You had a good plan, but you deviated. The during-trade checklist keeps you honest while the position is live.
1. Did I Execute at My Planned Price?
Slippage happens, but did you chase the entry? If your plan was to enter at $67,000 and you jumped in at $67,400 because you were scared of missing the move, note that. It affects your risk:reward and reflects on your discipline.
2. Is My Stop Loss Order Actually Placed?
Not "in my head"—actually placed on the exchange. Mental stops are not stops. They're wishes. The market doesn't care about your mental stop when it gaps through your level.
3. Am I Sticking to My Position Size?
No adding to the position because it's "going your way." No doubling down because you're underwater. Your planned size is your size.
4. Am I Moving My Stop Away from Entry?
This is the cardinal sin. "Giving it more room" is how small losses become big losses. Moving your stop to breakeven after the trade moves in your favor is fine. Moving it further away because you're losing is never fine.
5. Is My Emotional State Stable?
Check in with yourself. Are you calm and focused, or anxious and glued to the screen? Extreme emotions during a trade often lead to management mistakes.
Read more: Trading Psychology Guide
Post-Trade Checklist: After You Close
The post-trade checklist ensures you capture the lessons from every trade. This is where improvement happens—or doesn't, if you skip it.
1. Record the Facts
Immediately after closing, log:
- Entry and exit prices
- Position size
- Profit or loss (in both dollars and R-multiple)
- Duration of trade
Do this before emotions distort your memory. The facts are the facts.
2. Document Your Entry Reason
Write down why you took this trade. What was the setup? What confirmed your entry? This becomes invaluable data when you review trades later.
3. Assess Plan Adherence
Binary question: Did you follow your plan? Yes or no. If no, what did you deviate on?
This is the most important post-trade metric. A losing trade where you followed your plan is fine—that's variance. A winning trade where you broke your rules is dangerous—that's a bad habit being reinforced.
4. Log Emotional State
How did you feel before, during, and after the trade? Calm, anxious, excited, frustrated, greedy, fearful? Track this consistently and you'll discover powerful correlations between emotional states and trading outcomes.
5. Assign a Grade
Grade the trade A through F based on execution quality—not outcome. An A-grade trade followed your rules perfectly. An F-grade trade violated core principles. Track your grade distribution over time.
Read more: Post Trade Analysis Crypto
6. Identify the Key Lesson
What's the one thing you learned from this trade? Be specific. Not "I should be more patient" but "I entered 5 minutes before my setup confirmed—next time, wait for the candle close."
7. Save a Screenshot
A chart screenshot at entry and/or exit preserves context that numbers can't capture. When you review this trade in a month, you'll see exactly what the setup looked like.
Checklist Compliance vs. Trading Results
Data from 10,000+ trades across Thrive users shows a clear correlation between checklist adherence and performance.
Full checklist compliance
Win: 58%
+2.3R
Mostly compliant
Win: 51%
+1.1R
Partial compliance
Win: 44%
+0.2R
Low compliance
Win: 35%
-0.8R
Customizing Your Checklist
The checklist template above is a starting point. Customize it based on your trading style and your specific weaknesses.
Add Items for Your Common Mistakes
What errors do you make repeatedly? Add checklist items that specifically prevent those errors:
- If you overtrade: "Is this my 3rd trade or less today?"
- If you revenge trade: "Am I entering this because of the last trade's outcome?"
- If you FOMO: "Would I still take this if I hadn't seen the recent move?"
- If you oversize: "Is this position size under my maximum allowed?"
Read more: How to Avoid Overtrading
Add Strategy-Specific Items
Different strategies need different checks:
- Breakout traders: "Is volume confirming the breakout?"
- Mean reversion: "Are we at a statistical extreme?"
- Trend followers: "Is the trend still intact on higher timeframes?"
- Scalpers: "Is the spread acceptable right now?"
Keep It Usable
The best checklist is one you'll actually use. Resist the urge to add 30 items. A concise checklist you complete every time beats an exhaustive checklist you abandon after a week.
Aim for 5-8 pre-trade items, 5-6 during-trade items, and 5-7 post-trade items. That's comprehensive without being overwhelming.
Implementing the Checklist Habit
Having a checklist and using a checklist are different things. Here's how to make it stick:
Make It Visible
Print your pre-trade checklist and put it next to your screen. Create a shortcut to your journal. Reduce the friction between "I should check the list" and actually checking it.
Start with Pre-Trade Only
If implementing the full checklist feels overwhelming, start with just the pre-trade phase. Master that habit first. Add the during-trade and post-trade checklists once pre-trade is automatic.
Track Compliance
For each trade, note whether you completed the full checklist. Calculate your compliance rate weekly. Correlate compliance with results. When you see that compliant trades outperform, the habit becomes self-reinforcing.
No Exceptions
The moment you say "just this once I'll skip it" is the beginning of the end. Checklists work because they're consistent. Make completion non-negotiable.
Read more: Building a Profitable Trading Routine
Your Checklist Action Plan
Implement a complete trade review checklist starting today:
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need a trade review checklist?
A checklist ensures consistency. Without one, you'll miss important details, especially when emotions are high. Pilots use checklists before every flight—not because they don't know how to fly, but because checklists prevent errors. Trading is no different.
Should I use the same checklist for every trade?
Yes, with minor variations. Your core checklist should be consistent across all trades to ensure nothing is missed. You might have additional items for specific setups (e.g., extra checks for high-leverage trades), but the foundation stays the same.
How detailed should my pre-trade checklist be?
Detailed enough to prevent impulsive trades, brief enough to use consistently. A 20-item pre-trade checklist sounds thorough but you won't use it. Aim for 5-8 essential items that take under 60 seconds to complete. Quality over quantity.
What's the most important item on a trade review checklist?
For pre-trade: "Is this a valid setup according to my rules?" This single question prevents most impulsive trades. For post-trade: "Did I follow my plan?" This separates process errors from outcome variance.
How do I use a checklist without slowing down my trading?
Practice until it becomes automatic. Initially, a checklist feels slow. After 50-100 trades, you'll complete it in seconds. The small time investment prevents costly mistakes. Also, if a trade opportunity requires such speed that you can't complete a 30-second checklist, it's probably not a quality setup.
Should I have separate checklists for different timeframes?
Your core checklist applies to all timeframes. You might add timeframe-specific items (e.g., scalping checklist includes "spread acceptable?" while swing trading checklist includes "overnight risk considered?"), but the fundamentals—valid setup, proper sizing, defined risk—are universal.
What if I skip checklist items and the trade still wins?
That's the most dangerous outcome. Winning while breaking rules reinforces bad habits. Track your checklist compliance and correlate it with results over 50+ trades. You'll likely find that compliant trades outperform non-compliant ones, even if individual exceptions exist.
How does Thrive help with trade review checklists?
Thrive builds checklist thinking into the journaling process. When you log a trade, you're prompted for the key elements: setup type, emotional state, plan adherence. The system then tracks your compliance and shows you how checklist adherence correlates with your results.