Sizing from ticks, not feelings
Knowing your per-tick value turns vague stops into exact dollar risk. Combine it with the position size calculator to set a stop that risks a fixed % of your account.
Ticks, pips, and what a price step is worth
Crypto borrowed "pip" from forex, where it means the smallest quoted price move. On crypto exchanges the honest term is tick size — BTC/USDT usually ticks at $0.10, small alts at $0.0001. What matters isn't the tick itself but its dollar value at your position size: tick value = position size × (tick / price).
Why bother: stop distances measured in ticks translate directly to dollar risk. A 500-tick stop on BTC ($50) with a position of 0.5 BTC risks $25. Once you can price a tick, you can size any trade from the stop distance — which is the correct direction to size from.
Tick size also sets the floor on scalping viability. If the spread is 3 ticks and your average win target is 20 ticks, the market structure taxes you 15% of your edge before fees. Tight-tick, deep-book markets (BTC, ETH majors) are the only ones where sub-minute scalping math can clear costs.