See the full explainer: What Is Paper Trading Crypto?. In short, paper trading runs a strategy's real rules against live, real-time prices, but with a simulated account instead of real capital: every entry, exit, and cost is tracked exactly as it would be live, without ever risking a dollar.
The honesty of a paper implementation is what makes it useful evidence rather than a toy. zengtrade's paper book marks to live Binance spot prices every cycle and applies the same round-trip cost model as live execution, specifically so paper results are a genuine preview of live performance, not an optimistic fiction.
Educational content, not investment advice. zengtrade is paper-first and non-custodial.