Copy trading has been around since 2005, four years before the decentralization of bitcoin. So, this is a financial trading practice tested and proven with exceptional results helping beginners get a foothold in the financial markets.

Also known as social trading, copy trading can be a lucrative practice.

But there is a catch: The beginner trader must be able to predict a successful trader whose trades they can copy. There is a famous trading quote that surmises the concept of copy trading:

"Watch the market leaders."

If you want to trade, focus on copying the strongest traders because they outperform others in the market with minimal risk.

Does that mean they never get it wrong?

Of course not. There is always a risk in every trade. How, then, can you copy trade with the best results? This article shares tips on how to copy trade and the advantages and disadvantages of copy trading. Let's dive right in with the pros and cons.

Advantages of Copy trading

Provides Familiarity

Since copy trading copies the trades of a successful trader, you have the opportunity to build 
familiarity with the practices and markets that you are trading in by following in the footsteps of already successful traders.

Increases Confidence

Trading in financial markets can be intimidating for a beginner. But your trading confidence grows if you are copying a successful person and can see their trades work for you. It is no longer hearsay; the proof is in the pudding, which, technically, you just ate. The more you learn from the copied trades, the more confident you become before going solo.

You are Part of a Community

There is a solid copy-trading community where experienced, and beginner traders meet and exchange ideas and strategies. Working with like-minded individuals helps improve trades while growing your knowledge of trading strategies.

Allows Broad Participation

You can copy trade across various financial markets, including foreign exchange, commodities, indices, stocks, cryptocurrency, and more. Copy trading is not restricted to just one security.

Disadvantages of Copy Trading

It Is Risky

You run the same risks the experienced traders run when you copy their trades. Just because a trader is experienced and has successful trades doesn't guarantee future success. As a beginner, you must copy the trades entirely, so you cannot escape the risks if the trade doesn't go well. Unfortunately, signal providers do not always make winning trades.

You Have No Control Over Trades

Since you are copying another person's trade, you have no control over their trading practices, decisions, and strategies. When you copy another person's trade, you copy it with all its shortcomings.

Market Conditions Frequently Change

Remember, you also have no control over the frequently changing market conditions. Master traders are also at the mercy of frequently changing market conditions, so they cannot guarantee you success when you copy their trades.

You May Have to Pay for the Trades

Sometimes, a master trader will require a performance or subscription fee to copy their trades. Traders can charge as much as $200 or more. Before copying a trade, make sure that you identify any charges that apply.

You Will Not Develop Your Skills Fast Enough

While copy trading helps you grow your knowledge of trading in financial markets, it also coddles you preventing you from learning about trading and markets sooner. Going solo allows you to gain critical experience by developing your strategies. You also get to learn from your trading mistakes and become a better trader over time.

Copy Trading Tips for Beginners

Use the auto copy feature to replicate more experienced traders' activities easily. You can do this with the click of a button.

Auto-copy several master traders to spread your risk. That diversifies your portfolio so that if one trader has unsuccessful trades, then you have other copied trades that are successful.

Partner with a regulated broker that provides you with customer support, security, and assets.
Begin copy trading with smaller budgets as you check out the return on investments and profits. 

Trade using a minimal budget so that you incur a small risk. This is a safe way to learn about trading with minimum risk to you.

Avoid copying the highest P&L traders even though they appear to be the best to copy because of their high return on investment and P&L. The higher the return on investment, the higher the risk.

Use social features like the news feed on the trading platform to get better trading insights and connect with other like-minded traders. Other social features that provide insights and accurate information include Facebook groups and Instagram. These social features benefit you with pertinent information allowing you to maximize your profit when you trade.

Do not be afraid to stop and do more research when considering copy trading. When you do adequate and thorough research, you can tell when a signal provider's trade drops and is heading to less than 30% of the overall invested amount. The research will show you if a particular trader is always at 30% and below, and if you see this happening, you can pull the plug in time to save your investment.

Avoid copying new signal providers because their trading strategies and ROI have not been verified. We are not saying that new master traders cannot have successful trades. But their strategies and trading decisions have not been tested and proved to be successful. It is better to stick to signal providers with a successful record that you can verify.

Use filters to find the best traders on trading platforms. Once you identify these master traders, look for their trading history and stats before committing to auto-copying them.

What to Expect from Copy Trading Apps

There are several copy trading apps for crypto available for beginner use. The best copy trading apps for financial markets should:

• Be regulated
• Have a demo account
• Allow you to trade in various securities like forex, indices, crypto, commodities, and CFDs, among others.
• Allow you to do your trading from anywhere in the world
• Accept funding methods like bank transfers, PayPal, and credit cards
• Have excellent customer support via phone, live chat, and email
• Allow you to view real-time prices and price updates

Some of the best copy trading apps for financial markets include Etoro, AVATrade, PrimeXBT Copy Trading, FXTM, and Naga, among others. Check out the following extensive list of excellent copy trading apps you can use for crypto. Copy trading is currently being used in crypto trading to make it easier for new traders to learn the ropes of trading.