The tests, in detail
The checklist exists because the copy-trading world runs thick with assertions that almost no reader is ever handed the means to test. Three of the five tests carry their own page, because they are the ones sources most often fail. The full five-test method is on the method page.
What the checklist is really sorting
A would-be follower rarely compares two near-identical accounts. In practice you are choosing between types of source — an anonymous copy account, an influencer, a platform leader, a tip channel, or a graded, timestamped book — and each type fails or passes the tests as a category. The checklist's job is to make that structural difference visible, so a glossy profile cannot hide which category a source belongs to. The table below sorts the field on the two tests that decide most cases: was the call fixed before its outcome, and is the hit rate shown with its full count.
| Source type | Calls fixed publicly? | Full count shown? | Why it lands there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anonymous copy account | No | Sometimes | No name to hold accountable; calls seldom fixed per signal. |
| Influencer you mirror | No | No | Posts deletable; revenue often from referral links. |
| Auto-copy platform leader | Rarely | Yes | Equity curve shown, but rarely per-call proof or grades. |
| Tip-channel re-poster | No | No | Forwards others unaudited; inherits every gap. |
| Bot / signal automation | Sometimes | Backtest only | A backtest is not a live result; no person owns it. |
| Graded, timestamped book | Yes | Yes | Per-call on-chain receipt + a named, reviewed record. |
The bottom row is the only category that earns a tick in both columns, which is the structural case the comparison makes for the pick — not that it is louder, but that it belongs to the one type a stranger can audit. The three tests below each take one column apart in full.
Why these two columns decide most cases
Of the five tests, two do almost all the sorting. Fixed before its outcome is the one that cannot be retrofitted: a source either anchored its calls in public before they resolved or it did not, and no later polish changes that fact. Full count shown is the one that cannot be faked without an outright lie: a hit rate is only evidence when the full tally of calls, losers included, sits next to it. A source that clears both has handed you a record you can interrogate. The remaining three tests — the measured grade, public pricing and aligned pay — are real, but they tend to confirm a verdict the first two have already reached rather than overturn it. That is why the table sorts on the two, and why a source can have a polished profile, a busy community and a confident pitch and still land in a row with two crosses.
The three tests with their own page
Fixed before the result
Why a public receipt is the test an anonymous account cannot fake its way around.
Grades that are measured
How an A-to-D grade is calibrated to a model's own returns instead of a mood.
The remaining two tests — public pricing and aligned (non-referral) pay — are covered on the method page, because they are quicker to check and rarely the deciding factor.