Crypto Trend Channel Donchian SMA Filter MT4
- Indicators
-
Kenichiro Sakamoto
I'm Kenichiro Sakamoto, the developer behind FXEA365 — a studio building transparent, rule-based Expert Advisors for MetaTrader 5. - Version: 2.0
- Updated: 16 July 2026
FREE — the Donchian breakout channel, an SMA trend filter, and the ATR trailing stop that manages the trade, drawn together. Tuned for crypto majors (BTC, ETH).
Crypto trends in long, clean runs and then chops hard. A raw breakout indicator fires on both. This one only marks a breakout when it also agrees with a long-term SMA, which is how a crypto trend EA avoids buying into a fake break inside a range.
=== WHAT IT DRAWS ===
- The Donchian channel (upper and lower) over the last N closed bars.
- The trend SMA (default 200).
- Gold arrows where a bar CLOSED beyond the channel AND on the correct side of the SMA - the breakout a trend system would actually take.
=== NO REPAINTING ===
The channel and the SMA are read on closed bars, and the breakout is judged on the previous bar's close. Nothing is drawn from the forming bar, so an arrow never disappears later.
=== SETTINGS ===
- EntryChannel (default 20): Donchian length.
- TrendSMA (default 200): only breakouts in the SMA's direction are marked.
- Trail_ATR (default 4.0) and ATR_Period (default 14): reference trailing distance.
- LongOnly: mark only upward breakouts (common for crypto's up-bias).
Defaults are a BTC/ETH H4 configuration - a starting point, not a universal setting.
=== HONEST NOTE ===
A visualisation tool, not a signal service. Trend following on crypto has a win rate below 50%: many small losses, a few large winners that carry the result. It works when crypto trends and bleeds in ranges. Watch it on your instrument before trading the idea.
=== THE SAME LOGIC AS AN EA ===
Our Bitcoin Comet and Bitcoin Glacier EAs trade this class of setup with a hard stop-loss on every trade, ATR trailing, one position, no martingale and no grid.
Bitcoin Comet: https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/181831
Bitcoin Glacier: https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/182361
Our free Donchian Trend Engine EA (USDJPY): https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/185534
=== THE EXPERT ADVISORS THAT TRADE THIS LOGIC ===
This indicator draws the channel. These are the Expert Advisors that trade it on crypto, with the numbers we measured. Hard stop-loss on every trade, no martingale, no grid.
- Bitcoin Comet Trend Follower (BTCUSD H4) — profit factor 2.38, maximum equity drawdown 8.3%, 128 trades over 8 years.
- Bitcoin Coil Squeeze Breakout (BTCUSD) — profit factor 4.14, maximum equity drawdown 8.6%, 57 trades over 8 years. Few trades: it waits for volatility compression.
- Bitcoin Glacier Daily Trend (BTCUSD D1) — profit factor 5.56, maximum equity drawdown 13.8%, but only 28 trades in 8 years. Read that trade count before you judge the profit factor.
- Ethereum Trend Follower (ETHUSD H4) — profit factor 3.72, maximum equity drawdown 8.5%, 93 trades over 7.5 years.
More free tools from us:
- Donchian Trend Engine (EA): https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/185534
- Donchian Channel + ATR Trailing Stop (indicator): https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/185547
- Pivot Trend (indicator): https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/185643
- Dip Buyer Zones (indicator): https://www.mql5.com/en/market/product/185644
All our products: https://www.mql5.com/en/users/app.develop.sk/seller
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