What to do. In what order.
This is the manual you read once before you start. And consult whenever something does not feel right.
It is not the brochure. It assumes you have decided to deploy Pascal and you want to do it carefully. It is sequenced — read it in order the first time. After that, each section stands on its own.
Pascal supports most major BTC-perpetual venues. The setup is broadly the same on every one: create an account, secure it, fund it, generate a trade-only API key with withdrawal permission refused, paste the key into Pascal. Your capital never leaves your exchange. Pascal trades. You watch.
A short checklist. Have these to hand before you begin — it makes the rest of the manual frictionless.
Your money never leaves your own exchange account. Pascal connects via an API key that can trade — it cannot withdraw, transfer, or move your funds. You remain in full control of your assets at all times. The Custody page is the architectural read-out of this; this manual is the operational one.
Pascal is exchange-agnostic. Bring your preferred venue — Pascal connects via a single trade-only API key, no matter which one you choose.
The change from v1 of this Manual is the one Principals asked for most: you no longer have to use a single named exchange. Pascal now supports most major BTC-perpetual venues, and the setup flow is broadly the same on each. Pick the venue you already use, the one that has the best fees in your jurisdiction, or the one your custodian prefers — Pascal does not care, provided it offers BTC/USDT perpetuals and a trade-only API scope.
The original v1 venue. Deep liquidity on BTC/USDT perpetuals, clear API surface, well-documented withdrawal whitelist flow.
The largest perpetuals venue globally. Tight spreads on BTC/USDT, strict trade-only key permissions, IP-restriction supported.
Pascal-native — much of the engine was built and validated against Bybit's API. Excellent perpetual liquidity, clean granular scopes.
The most regulated of the supported venues. Better liquidity for BTC perpetuals than most realise, and a strong audit posture.
Deep BTC perpetual book, supports the standard trade-only / withdrawal-off scope split that Pascal requires.
The right choice for a US-based Principal. BTC perpetuals via the Advanced surface, regulated, strong custody posture.
For Principals who want BTC perpetuals alongside an options venue. Clean API, low latency, professional book.
Useful in jurisdictions where the larger venues are restricted. Standard trade-only API surface, supported via the same connector.
If you already have an account on one of the eight, use it — the setup is shortest. Otherwise, pick by jurisdiction: Coinbase Advanced for US, Kraken for UK/EU, Binance / Bybit / OKX / Crypto.com for most other regions. Liquidity is not a real differentiator at the trade sizes Pascal works at — all eight have more depth than any single Principal will ever need.
The remainder of this manual is written venue-agnostically. Where a per-exchange detail matters — usually a menu path — it is called out in the relevant section.
If you already have an account on your chosen venue, skip to § 04. If not — this is once, and it takes about fifteen minutes.
Go to the exchange directly — type the domain in yourself, do not follow a link from email or social media. (See § 11 — phishing avoidance.) Click Sign Up or Register.
Use an email address you control and a strong, unique password — a password manager (1Password, Bitwarden) is strongly recommended. Do not reuse a password from any other account.
The exchange will send a verification email. Confirm immediately. If it does not arrive within a few minutes, check the spam folder.
Every supported exchange requires Know-Your-Customer verification. Upload a photo of your government-issued ID and take a verification selfie. Approval is usually within a few minutes to a few hours.
You will need to provide your name, date of birth, address, and (depending on jurisdiction) source-of-funds declaration.
On most exchanges, perpetuals trading is a separate sub-account or requires a one-time toggle. Pascal trades BTC/USDT perpetuals. Confirm the option is enabled before continuing.
Once your account is approved and perpetuals are enabled, proceed to § 04 to secure it before depositing any capital.
Before any money goes in, three layers of security go on. They are non-negotiable.
The pattern is universal across every supported exchange. The menu paths differ slightly; the layers do not.
Every login and sensitive action requires a code from your phone. Even with your password, an attacker cannot enter without the second factor.
A Ledger or Trezor device that holds your withdrawal address offline. Funds destined out of the exchange flow to this device only.
The exchange is configured to allow withdrawals to one address only — your hardware wallet. Funds cannot leave the account in any other direction.
Use Google Authenticator, Authy, or your password manager's built-in TOTP feature. Do not use SMS-based 2FA — it is vulnerable to SIM-swap attacks.
The path varies: typically Settings → Security → Two-Factor Authentication. Select Authenticator App, not SMS.
Save the backup codes somewhere safe and offline — a password manager's secure-notes section is fine. If you lose your phone without these, recovery is painful.
Never buy a hardware wallet second-hand or from a marketplace. Always direct from the manufacturer's official store, sealed.
Follow the manufacturer's onboarding to create a new wallet. Write down the seed phrase on the included card. Never type the seed phrase into any computer, phone, or website. Store the card somewhere physically secure.
In the Ledger Live or Trezor Suite app, add a USDC-on-Solana account and reveal the receiving address. Verify the address on the device screen — never trust the address shown on the computer alone.
In your exchange: Settings → Withdrawal → Address Book → Add Address. Paste the USDC-on-Solana address from your hardware wallet. Label it clearly (e.g. My Ledger · USDC).
Most exchanges enforce a 24–48 hour cooling period before a newly added address becomes active. This is a safety feature — it gives you time to react if someone has compromised your account.
In the same menu, toggle Restrict withdrawals to whitelisted addresses only. From this point, no withdrawal can leave to anywhere else — not even one you authorise. Adding a new destination requires the cooling period each time.
Do not whitelist exchange addresses, friends' wallets, or anywhere else. The fewer whitelisted addresses, the safer. If you ever genuinely need a second destination, accept the cooling period.
With the account secured, add the capital Pascal will trade with.
Pascal's architectural minimum is $1,000 — below that, fees dominate returns. The sweet spot for the early cohort is between $10,000 and $50,000. Above that range, Pascal still operates correctly, but Tier-3 (Risk & Capital) imposes per-position caps so a single position cannot exceed forty percent of available capital.
Whatever you deposit, deposit only what you can afford to leave alone. Pascal is built for a long-horizon Principal who watches and reads, not for capital that needs to come out next week.
Pascal works best with USDC on the Solana network — transaction fees are fractions of a penny, so more of your money works for you. Two routes:
Transfer it directly to your exchange's USDC deposit address. In your exchange: Wallet → Deposit → USDC, select Solana as the network, copy the address carefully (verify the first and last four characters), send a small test amount first if the size is significant.
Deposit GBP, EUR, or USD by bank transfer. Most exchanges offer SEPA, Faster Payments, ACH, or SWIFT — fees and clearing time vary. Once the fiat lands, use the exchange's built-in convert tool to swap into USDC.
Bank transfers typically take 1–3 business days. Some venues offer faster instant-deposit options for additional fees.
On any first transfer to a new address — exchange, wallet, anywhere — send a small test amount first (~$5). Wait for it to land. Verify the destination. Then send the rest. This habit costs five minutes and prevents an entire category of irreversible mistakes.
This is the one step you do most carefully. The API key is what gives Pascal access to your account — and crucially, what limits that access.
An API key is a limited-access pass to your exchange account. You control exactly what it can and cannot do. The key we create here authorises Pascal to trade — and nothing else.
Open positions. Close positions. Adjust stops. Modify orders. Read balances, positions, history.
Cannot move funds out. Cannot transfer. Cannot whitelist a new address. Cannot initiate any fiat off-ramp.
Per-exchange paths are in the § 02 catalog. Typically Settings → API or Profile → API Management.
Label it clearly — Pascal · trade-only · {date}. The label is for your reference; Pascal does not see it.
You will be presented with a permissions panel. Enable Read and Trade (or Spot & Derivatives Trading, depending on the venue). Disable Withdrawal, Transfer, Internal Transfer, and any "wallet management" permission.
Some exchanges let you bind the key to a specific IP range. If your venue offers this, use the IP range Pascal provides during onboarding. If it does not, the trade-only permission scope is sufficient.
The exchange will show your API key and API secret exactly once. Copy both into a temporary, secure note — you will paste them into Pascal in the next section.
Before pasting the key into Pascal, return to the API key list and confirm that Withdrawal is disabled on this key. Pascal will also check this at connection time and refuse to operate with a key that has withdrawal permission — but two checks are better than one.
With the key generated, this is the moment Pascal sees your account. The next few minutes determine the rest of the relationship.
Open app.pascaltrades.com directly — type the address, do not follow an email link. Sign in with the credentials you set up when your invitation was issued.
Select your exchange from the dropdown — the same one you set up in § 02. Pascal adjusts the connection flow for each venue automatically.
Paste each value into the corresponding field. Pascal encrypts both on receipt — they are written to disk encrypted, and nobody at Pascal ever sees them in plaintext.
Pascal makes a probe call to your exchange to confirm the key is valid, that the trade scope is enabled, and that withdrawal is refused. If withdrawal is enabled, Pascal will refuse to connect and ask you to regenerate.
Pascal will show your account balance and propose an initial allocation — typically the full balance, minus the architectural 5% cash floor. You can lower this from Settings at any time; you cannot raise it above what the rules permit.
By default Pascal opens new connections in paper mode — every trade is simulated against live prices, no capital is at risk. This runs for as long as you want; the recommended minimum is 72 hours so you can see the system behave before live deployment.
When you are ready, toggle Live trading in Settings. Pascal will ask you to confirm. From the moment you confirm, real positions open on your real account.
A short field-guide to what is normal and what is not, so you know which is which.
If you want a more thorough first-day briefing, ask Alex on the Trades surface: "Walk me through today's activity, in order." Pro and Elite tier Principals will receive a cited, sequenced narrative.
Four operational controls. Each is one click. Each is reversible.
The most important control. On the Dashboard, the PAUSE button stops all new trades immediately. Open positions remain open under their own stop-loss and take-profit rules — pausing does not market-close them, which would lock losses or cut gains arbitrarily.
You can also pause via Telegram (/halt) if you are away from the dashboard. The pause is acknowledged within one bar — never more than one M close lag.
In Settings → Allocation you can lower the percentage of your account Pascal is permitted to deploy. The 5% cash floor is architectural — you can raise it above that, you cannot lower it below. Changes take effect on the next bar close; no positions are touched mid-trade.
Withdrawals happen at your exchange, not through Pascal. Pascal cannot move money out of your account; it does not have the permission.
Pausing prevents new trades from opening while you withdraw. Not strictly necessary, but it keeps the accounting clean.
Open the exchange's site, sign in, navigate to Wallet → Withdraw → USDC → Solana.
Only one address can receive — the hardware wallet you whitelisted in § 04. Enter the amount, confirm with 2FA, submit.
Pascal resumes on the next bar close after you unpause. The reduced balance is automatically reflected in the next Treasury cycle.
Occasionally Pascal proposes a protocol amendment — a change to how the system reasons (a new strategy promoted from paper, a parameter adjustment ratified by the T8 board, a Tier-7 supervisor recommendation that requires Principal sign-off). These appear on the Approvals surface as a queued item with full context.
You can approve, defer, or reject. Deferring sends the proposal back for re-evaluation at the next cycle. Rejecting is recorded permanently in Alexandria with your reasoning — and is itself a decision the institution learns from.
If you want to disconnect Pascal entirely — for any reason — the action lives at your exchange, not in Pascal. Log in to your exchange, delete the Pascal API key, done. Pascal's access ends the moment the key is deleted; no process inside Pascal can resist a revocation.
A short triage register. If your situation does not match any of these, contact the desk — see "Getting help" at the foot of this section.
Inner-circle Principals can reach the desk directly — your invitation included the contact. Response is measured in hours during the working week, faster for live-incident issues. For genuine security incidents, contact us first, your exchange's fraud line second — we can revoke the Pascal key from our side in seconds while you make the call.
Nothing new — a one-page summary of the discipline that protects the rest.
Pascal trades. You watch. Alex narrates. The desk is there.
— and you can pause it, at any time, from anywhere —