Understanding Base/QuoteCurrency(), CreateMarket()

These fundamental HaasScript commands help you identify and work with trading markets. Understanding how to retrieve currency information and construct market strings is essential for building trading strategies that work across different markets.

Currency Pairs in Trading

In cryptocurrency and forex trading, markets are expressed as currency pairs:

BTC/USDT

• Base Currency (BTC): The first currency - what you're buying or selling
• Quote Currency (USDT): The second currency - what you're pricing the base in

Examples:

• BTC/USDT: Buy/sell BTC using USDT
• ETH/BTC: Buy/sell ETH using BTC
• LTC/USDT: Buy/sell LTC using USDT

BaseCurrency()

Returns the base currency of the current market.

BaseCurrency([market])

Basic Usage

local base = BaseCurrency()

Log(base)  -- Outputs: BTC (if current market is BTC/USDT)

With Market Parameter

local market = "BINANCE_ETH_USDT_"
local base = BaseCurrency(market)

Log(base)  -- Outputs: ETH

Trading Use Case

local baseCurrency = BaseCurrency()

if baseCurrency == "BTC" then
    Log("Trading BTC pair")
elseif baseCurrency == "ETH" then
    Log("Trading ETH pair")
end

QuoteCurrency()

Returns the quote currency of the current market.

QuoteCurrency([market])

Basic Usage

local quote = QuoteCurrency()

Log(quote)  -- Outputs: USDT (if current market is BTC/USDT)

With Market Parameter

local market = "BINANCE_LTC_BTC_"
local quote = QuoteCurrency(market)

Log(quote)  -- Outputs: BTC

Trading Use Case

local quoteCurrency = QuoteCurrency()

if quoteCurrency == "USDT" then
    Log("Trading against USDT")
elseif quoteCurrency == "BTC" then
    Log("Trading against BTC")
end

Combining Base and Quote Currencies

Get Full Market Name

local base = BaseCurrency()
local quote = QuoteCurrency()
local market = base .. "/" .. quote

Log("Trading market: " .. market)

Check Market Type

local base = BaseCurrency()
local quote = QuoteCurrency()

if quote == "USD" or quote == "USDT" or quote == "EUR" then
    Log("Trading against fiat currency")
elseif quote == "BTC" then
    Log("Trading against BTC")
else
    Log("Trading against altcoin")
end

Filter by Base Currency

local base = BaseCurrency()

-- Only trade BTC pairs
if base == "BTC" then
    -- Your strategy logic
end

Filter by Quote Currency

local quote = QuoteCurrency()

-- Only trade against USDT
if quote == "USDT" then
    -- Your strategy logic
end

CreateMarket()

Creates a market string that can be used with various HaasScript commands.

CreateMarket([priceSource], [baseCurrency], [quoteCurrency], [contractName])

Basic Usage

local market = CreateMarket()

Log(market)  -- Outputs current market string

Create Custom Market

local market = CreateMarket("", "BTC", "USDT", "")

Log(market)  -- Outputs: EXCHANGE_BTC_USDT_

With Price Source

local market = CreateMarket("BINANCE", "ETH", "USDT", "")

Log(market)  -- Outputs: BINANCE_ETH_USDT_

With Contract Name (Futures)

local market = CreateMarket("", "BTC", "USDT", "PERPETUAL")

Log(market)  -- Outputs: EXCHANGE_BTC_USDT_PERPETUAL

Using CreateMarket() in Strategies

Switch Markets

-- Create market for BTC/USDT
local btcMarket = CreateMarket("", "BTC", "USDT", "")

-- Use this market for price data
local price = CurrentPrice(btcMarket).close
Log("BTC price: " .. price)

Compare Multiple Markets

local btcMarket = CreateMarket("", "BTC", "USDT", "")
local ethMarket = CreateMarket("", "ETH", "USDT", "")

local btcPrice = CurrentPrice(btcMarket).close
local ethPrice = CurrentPrice(ethMarket).close

Log("BTC: " .. btcPrice .. ", ETH: " .. ethPrice)

Arbitrage Checks

local binanceBTC = CreateMarket("BINANCE", "BTC", "USDT", "")
local coinbaseBTC = CreateMarket("COINBASE", "BTC", "USDT", "")

local binancePrice = CurrentPrice(binanceBTC).close
local coinbasePrice = CurrentPrice(coinbaseBTC).close

if binancePrice > coinbasePrice then
    Log("Binance price higher: " .. binancePrice)
end

Dynamic Market Selection

local preferredBase = "BTC"
local preferredQuote = "USDT"
local market = CreateMarket("", preferredBase, preferredQuote, "")

local currentPrice = CurrentPrice(market).close
Log("Price of " .. preferredBase .. "/" .. preferredQuote .. ": " .. currentPrice)

Common Patterns

Market Information Logging

local base = BaseCurrency()
local quote = QuoteCurrency()
local price = CurrentPrice().close

Log("=== Market Info ===")
Log("Market: " .. base .. "/" .. quote)
Log("Current Price: " .. price)
Log("Base: " .. base)
Log("Quote: " .. quote)

Validate Market

local base = BaseCurrency()
local quote = QuoteCurrency()

if base == "" or quote == "" then
    Log("Error: Invalid market")
else
    Log("Trading " .. base .. "/" .. quote)
end

Convert Between Markets

local base = BaseCurrency()
local quote = QuoteCurrency()

-- If trading against BTC, show USDT equivalent
if quote == "BTC" then
    local btcMarket = CreateMarket("", "BTC", "USDT", "")
    local baseMarket = CreateMarket("", base, quote, "")
    local btcPrice = CurrentPrice(btcMarket).close
    local basePrice = CurrentPrice(baseMarket).close
    local value = Round(btcPrice * basePrice, 4)

    Log("1 " .. base .. " = " .. value .. " USDT")
end

Portfolio Tracking

local base = BaseCurrency()
local quote = QuoteCurrency()
local position = GetPositionAmount()

if position > 0 then
    local value = position * CurrentPrice().close
    Log("Position: " .. position .. " " .. base .. " (" .. value .. " " .. quote .. ")")
end

Working with Multiple Exchanges

Cross-Exchange Comparison

local binance = CreateMarket("BINANCE", "BTC", "USD", "")
local coinbase = CreateMarket("COINBASE", "BTC", "USDT", "")
local kraken = CreateMarket("KRAKEN", "BTC", "EUR", "")

local binancePrice = CurrentPrice(binance).close
local coinbasePrice = CurrentPrice(coinbase).close
local krakenPrice = CurrentPrice(kraken).close

Log("Binance: " .. binancePrice)
Log("Coinbase: " .. coinbasePrice)
Log("Kraken: " .. krakenPrice)

Get Best Price

local exchanges = {"BINANCE", "COINBASE", "KRAKEN"}
local bestPrice = 0
local bestExchange = ""

for i = 1, #exchanges do
    local market = CreateMarket(exchanges[i], "BTC", "USDT", "")
    local price = CurrentPrice(market).close

    if price > bestPrice then
        bestPrice = price
        bestExchange = exchanges[i]
    end
end

Log("Best price: " .. bestPrice .. " on " .. bestExchange)

Futures Contracts

Create Perpetual Market

local perpetual = CreateMarket("", "BTC", "USDT", "Perpetual")

Log(perpetual)  -- Outputs: BTC_USDT_Perpetual

Best Practices

1. Use BaseCurrency() and QuoteCurrency() to understand your current market
2. Use CreateMarket() to build market strings for other markets
3. Combine with Price() to get prices for different markets
4. Check market validity before executing trades
5. Log market information for debugging and monitoring
6. Use for arbitrage by comparing prices across exchanges
7. Filter trades by base or quote currency
8. Handle futures contracts with the contractName parameter

Summary

• BaseCurrency(): Returns the base currency (what you're trading)
• QuoteCurrency(): Returns the quote currency (what you're pricing in)
• CreateMarket(): Creates market strings for different exchanges and contracts
• Common uses: Market identification, filtering, cross-exchange comparison, arbitrage
• Combine with: Unmanaged trading commands, price sources, and other market-related commands
• Important: Base is first (BTC), Quote is second (USDT) in BTC/USDT

These commands are fundamental for building strategies that work across multiple markets and exchanges. Master them to create flexible, multi-market trading strategies.