By Keel Research Team
Updated October 18, 2026Forex strategy builder
Forex strategy builder
A forex strategy builder turns a trading idea for currency pairs into exact rules and backtests them on past prices before you risk money. Keel is a strategy builder and backtester for Hyperliquid perpetuals, and backtests on Hyperliquid's currency perps are coming soon. Today you can build and test the same kinds of forex trading strategy, such as trend and carry, on Hyperliquid's crypto perps.
Coming soon
Forex backtesting
Forex backtesting is coming to Keel. It is not in the product yet.
In Keel today
- Backtest over the dates you choose, with fees, slippage and funding
- Change a setting and re-run; every version and backtest is kept
- Paper trade on live Hyperliquid prices with no money at risk
What it does
Rules for currency pairs, tested on history
A forex strategy builder turns an idea into rules a computer can follow: which pair to trade, when to buy or sell, how big to go and when to get out. Then it runs those rules over past prices, so you see how the idea would have traded before you put money behind it.
Most forex trading strategies come from a few families. Trend following buys a pair that keeps rising and sells one that keeps falling. Carry holds the currency that pays the higher interest rate against one that pays less, and earns the difference while the rate gap lasts. Mean reversion bets that a stretched move comes back, and a breakout strategy trades the move out of a quiet range.
Swing traders hold for days rather than minutes, which suits a rules-based approach: the signal is checked once a day, and the trade has room to work. It also keeps costs low, because a slower strategy trades less often.
Forex on Hyperliquid
Currency pairs now trade as perps
Hyperliquid lists perpetual futures on currency pairs such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY. They are HIP-3 markets, launched by independent builders on Hyperliquid's order book, and they trade around the clock, weekends included. Instead of the overnight swap a forex broker charges, a perp pays or charges funding, which keeps its price close to the exchange rate.
Keel doesn't support HIP-3 markets yet, so you can't backtest these currency perps in Keel today. Support is coming soon. Keel backtests Hyperliquid's crypto perps, where the same families of strategy work the same way: a trend is a trend, and funding on a crypto perp plays the part that interest rates play in a carry trade.
Whichever market you test, a backtest should charge what the trade would cost: fees and slippage on every trade, and funding on every position you hold. Leave those out and the strategies that trade most often look far better than they are.
A real example
The carry trade, on crypto perps
In forex, carry means earning the interest gap between two currencies. On crypto perps the same idea earns funding. Here is the library's funding carry strategy, rule by rule.
1
The rules
- Once a day, take the 100 most traded Hyperliquid perps.
- Smooth each coin's funding rate over the last 10 days.
- Short the coins whose longs pay the most funding, and buy the coins whose funding is lowest or negative.
- Keep the book balanced long and short, at one times the account.
2
The same rules, as blocks
Each block is one step: load prices and funding, rank the coins, size the book. Fork it, then change the coins, the smoothing or the rebalance rule and run the backtest again.
Configuration
Globalsconfig
target_timeframe1d
UniverseassetsTop by Volume · HL Perps · 100 assets99 resolved
Executionorders
rebalanceBufferedbuffer_threshold0.15buffer_moderelative+2
Pipeline8 steps
PriceDataLoaderData Loader
FundingDataLoaderData Loader
NegateTransformSignal Transform
EWMATransformSignal Transform
window10
CrossSectionalZScoreSignal Transform
ForecastScalerForecast Mapper
avg_abs_target10
ForecastCapperForecast Mapper
limit20
ForecastWeightNormalizerPosition Sizer
target_leverage1
Globals(target_timeframe="1d")
Universe(mode="top_volume", top_n=100, market="perp", lookback="90d", exclusions=["PURR"], resolved=["AAVE", "ADA", "AERO", "ALGO", "APE", "APT", "AR", "ARB", "ASTER", "AVAX", "AXS", "BCH", "BIO", "BLUR", "BNB", "BTC", "CAKE", "CC", "CHIP", "CRV", "DASH", "DOGE", "DOT", "DYDX", "EIGEN", "ENA", "ETC", "ETH", "ETHFI", "FARTCOIN", "FET", "FIL", "GRAM", "GRASS", "HBAR", "HYPE", "ICP", "INIT", "INJ", "IP", "JTO", "JUP", "KAITO", "LDO", "LINK", "LIT", "LTC", "MEGA", "MEME", "MET", "MON", "MORPHO", "NEAR", "NIL", "ONDO", "OP", "ORDI", "PAXG", "PENDLE", "PENGU", "PNUT", "POL", "POPCAT", "PUMP", "PYTH", "RENDER", "RUNE", "SEI", "SKY", "SOL", "SPX", "STABLE", "STRK", "SUI", "SYRUP", "TAO", "TIA", "TON", "TRUMP", "TRX", "UNI", "VIRTUAL", "VVV", "W", "WIF", "WLD", "WLFI", "XLM", "XMR", "XPL", "XRP", "ZEC", "ZEN", "ZORA", "ZRO", "kBONK", "kNEIRO", "kPEPE", "kSHIB"], resolved_at="2026-07-07T19:46:36.522366+00:00")
Execution(rebalance="buffered", buffer_threshold=0.15, buffer_mode="relative", rebalance_method="to_edge", min_trade_size=0)
Pipeline([
PriceDataLoader(),
FundingDataLoader(),
NegateTransform(),
EWMATransform(window=10),
CrossSectionalZScore(),
ForecastScaler(avg_abs_target=10),
ForecastCapper(limit=20),
ForecastWeightNormalizer(target_leverage=1),
], name="funding_carry")
3
The backtest
Sharpe
1.39
Total return
+49.2%
Worst drawdown
−10.5%
Trades
17,680
Hyperliquid, Aug 2024 to Sep 2026, after trading fees, slippage and funding, on the default settings. Most of the result comes from funding collected, not from price moves. Past results don't predict future ones.
In Keel today
Build the idea on crypto perps today
Forex backtests aren't in Keel yet. The same strategies are, on Hyperliquid's crypto perps.
Describe a strategy in plain words
Tell Keel's AI what to buy or short, when to get out and how big to go. It builds the strategy as blocks you can read and change, then backtests it.
How the AI builder worksReal costs in every run
Every backtest charges trading fees and slippage and applies Hyperliquid's hourly funding to open positions, so a setting that trades a lot pays for it.
How the backtest worksStart from a tested strategy
The strategy library has trend, breakout, carry and mean reversion strategies with full backtests. Fork one into your account and change it.
Browse the strategy libraryPaper trade before real money
Run a strategy on live Hyperliquid prices with no money at risk, and see how it trades before you fund it.
Paper trading on live pricesWatch currency perps live
See every currency perp on Hyperliquid with its live rate, daily change and volume, including at weekends when the currency market is closed.
Forex on HyperliquidComing soon
Forex backtesting
Forex backtesting is coming to Keel. It is not in the product yet. Sign up free and we'll email you when it ships. Your account works today: build a strategy, backtest it and paper trade it while you wait.
FAQ
Common questions
What is a forex strategy builder?
A tool that turns a trading idea for currency pairs into exact rules and backtests them on past prices. Some builders use code, others use blocks or plain words. A good one charges the spread and the overnight cost of holding, so the backtest reflects what the trade would really cost.
Can I backtest forex strategies in Keel?
Not yet. Currency perps on Hyperliquid are HIP-3 markets, and Keel doesn't support them yet. Support is coming soon, and if you sign up we'll email you when it ships. Today you can build and backtest the same kinds of strategy on Hyperliquid's crypto perps.
Can I trade forex on Hyperliquid?
Hyperliquid lists perps on currency pairs such as EUR/USD and USD/JPY as HIP-3 markets. They trade 24/7 and charge or pay funding instead of a broker's swap. Forex on Hyperliquid shows each market's live rate and volume.
What is a forex carry trade?
Holding the currency with the higher interest rate against one with a lower rate, and earning the gap while it lasts. It tends to pay slowly and lose quickly when markets panic and the trade unwinds. On crypto perps the closest version collects funding instead of interest.
How do I backtest a forex strategy?
Write the rules down exactly, run them over a long stretch of history that includes calm and stressed markets, and charge the spread and holding costs on every trade. Then check the result on dates you didn't use to build it, and paper trade it before real money.
How realistic are Keel's backtests?
Every backtest charges trading fees and slippage on each trade and applies Hyperliquid's real hourly funding to every open position. It is still a simulation: fills are modelled, and past results don't predict future ones. How Keel works explains how the backtest and the live run use the same compiled strategy.
Start with a backtest
Sign up free and we'll email you when it ships. Your account works today: build a strategy, backtest it and paper trade it while you wait.