The Algo
Every trade you take real risk on needs an exit plan — a price where you take profit, a price where you cut the loss, and a rule for what happens in between. Most platforms give you a plain stop-limit order and leave the rest to you. Wingman also gives you a second engine, running continuously in the background, that manages the "in between" for you: the Algo.
Three ways to exit a trade
Target & stop
Two fixed prices you choose: take profit above (long) or below (short), and a stop the other side. No trailing, no judgment calls — the Algo watches for either price and closes the position the moment one is touched.
Trail % or trail $
Your stop follows price as the trade moves in your favor — by a percentage, or by a fixed dollar amount — and locks in gains instead of giving them all back if price reverses.
Trail algo (momentum exit)
The trailing distance itself adjusts to how fast price is actually moving against you, scaled by the patience level below — instead of one fixed percentage that's too tight in a fast move and too loose in a slow one.
Patience, not guesswork
The algo trail exit runs on a single dial, −5 to +5, in the exact same real trade panel you place the order in. It's a fixed rule, not a prediction of where price is going — tighter settings protect more of a gain but get shaken out by normal noise more often; looser settings ride bigger moves but give back more before exiting.
It runs on Wingman's server, not your browser
Once you arm the Algo on an open position, the watching happens on Wingman's own server — the same process the whole site runs on, checking prices every few seconds for as long as that process is up. Close the tab, put your phone away, go get cigarettes — it keeps watching. When your condition fires, it sends a real market order to close the position through the same exchange connection your own trades use.
What the Algo isn't
It's a software trigger, not an order resting on the exchange itself. It can only act on the price it most recently read — a big gap between checks, or an outage, can slip past your stop, the same risk any stop-loss carries, real or simulated. It's not a guarantee of an exact exit price. If you'd rather have an order sitting directly on Coinbase's own books as a second layer, that option exists too — the two aren't exclusive.
This is also why the Algo matters more the further you move from plain spot buying — see how spot and derivatives actually differ, and why derivatives lean on an exit plan harder.