# Crypto backtest audit checklist

## Question and rules
- [ ] State one falsifiable research question before running the test.
- [ ] Record the exact strategy version, asset, timeframe, signal timing, exits, sizing and benchmark.
- [ ] Record parameter exploration and why the final rule was selected.

## Data
- [ ] Record source, fetch date, timezone, resolution, start/end, gaps, duplicates and excluded bars.
- [ ] Verify OHLC consistency and distinguish a missing funding value from zero.
- [ ] Confirm entry uses information available at that historical time.

## Execution and costs
- [ ] Include entry and exit fees using dated, venue-specific assumptions.
- [ ] Include spread, slippage, funding, partial fills and market impact where applicable.
- [ ] Document order types, bar sequencing, stop/target conflict handling and liquidation limits.

## Validation
- [ ] Keep a chronological evaluation period untouched while choosing rules.
- [ ] Inspect multiple regimes, drawdown, trade count, loss concentration and sensitivity.
- [ ] Try higher costs and perturbed parameters.
- [ ] Record inconclusive and failed tests as well as favorable ones.

## Interpretation
- [ ] Separate historical simulation from paper observation and real fills.
- [ ] State that backtests are not forecasts or evidence of a future edge.