Cost model

Backtests charge a 10 bps fee on every fill, plus slippage applied against the trade direction (buys fill slightly higher, sells slightly lower): 10 bps on the SOL/USD configs and 15 bps on the JitoSOL pair, where the pool is thinner. Both accumulate per fill and are reported as separate line items next to every return figure. Live trading bounds slippage at 100 bps — a locked ceiling a config may go under but never over — passed explicitly to the venue on every order and enforced by the risk gate. The paper session prices fills at a 10 bps fee and 10 bps slippage, identical to the three SOL/USD backtests, so those curves stay comparable.

At small capital, cost dominates viability: a strategy that clears its costs at $165 is a different claim from one that only clears them at $16,500. The cost-as-percent-of-capital figure on the desk exists for exactly that reason.