Two decisions wearing one button
“Stop copying” bundles two separate questions: stop following this trader’s new trades, and what happens to the positions already open? Good platforms let you answer them separately. Bad exits happen when a platform — or panic — forces both answers at once, closing everything at whatever the market offers that minute. The time to learn how your platform splits these is before you allocate, not during the drawdown that makes you want out.
Where the positions live decides who controls the exit
On exchange-native copy products, your copy positions sit inside the exchange’s copy module, and what happens when you detach is whatever options that module offers — close everything now, or release the positions to you to manage. The options differ by venue and can change; the honest generalisation is only that you are choosing from their menu.
On a rules layer like CopyFi, there is no separate pot to unwind, because there never was one: every copied position was placed directly in your own Phemex account from the start — that is what non-custodial means in practice. Ending the session stops new copies. What is already open is sitting in your exchange account, visible next to any other position you hold, and closing any of it is one click on the exchange itself. No platform stands between you and the exit.
The clean exit, in order
- End the copying first. Stop the session (or detach from the trader) so nothing new opens while you are deciding about what is already there.
- Inventory what is open. On the exchange, list the positions the copy left behind: size, direction, leverage, unrealised result. You are no longer evaluating the trader — you are evaluating each position on its own merits.
- Decide per position, not in bulk. Close now, set your own stop and target, or hold and manage manually. Three legitimate answers; “whatever, close it all” chosen in frustration is how a temporary drawdown becomes a permanent loss — the exact failure described in why copy traders lose money.
- Revoke the API key last, if you are leaving entirely. Revoking cuts all software access on the spot — which also means any automated exit logic stops with it. Handle the open positions first, then cut the key.
The better version: decide the exit before the entry
Everything above is damage control for exits decided in the moment. The calmer version is deciding the exit at the start: a maximum loss, a drawdown limit, conditions under which the session halts on its own. Kill switches exist so that “when do I stop?” is answered by a rule you wrote on a good day instead of a feeling on a bad one — they are part of risk management for copy trading, built as blocks in the strategy builder, and rehearsable end to end, exits included, on the testnet.
Common questions
If I revoke my API key, do my open positions close?
No. Revoking the key cuts the platform’s access to your account — it stops new orders instantly, including any automated exits the platform would have placed. The positions themselves live in your exchange account and stay open until you close them there yourself.
Can the trader still affect my account after I stop copying?
Once the copy relationship is ended, their trades no longer produce orders in your account. What remains open in your account is yours alone — it no longer follows anything they do, including their exit.
Should I close everything when I stop copying?
That is a decision, not a default, and it has three honest options per position: close now and take the current result, set your own stop and target and let it resolve, or hold and manage it manually. Which is right depends on why you stopped — a rule you trust firing is different from panic.
What is the difference between pausing and stopping?
Pausing stops new positions from being copied while you keep the setup; stopping ends the relationship. On any platform, find out what each does to already-open positions before you need the answer in a hurry — it is the one detail worth knowing in advance.
Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Open positions carry risk until they are closed, whoever opened them. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and CopyFi makes no investment recommendations — see the risk disclosure.