Binance trading journal
FOQUS keeps a trading journal for your Binance futures account — no spreadsheets, no typing. Every USDⓈ-M perpetual position goes in by itself, with fees, funding and the history of your stops. All it needs is an API key with Enable Reading alone, and the journal is free forever.
What FOQUS records from Binance
FOQUS reads your USDⓈ-M futures account: perpetual contracts settled in USDT and USDC, such as BTCUSDT and BTCUSDC. A position is in FOQUS from the moment it opens, with its profit and stop updating live.
| What | How it shows in FOQUS |
|---|---|
| Fills | every buy and sell: price, size, fee |
| Stop-loss and take-profit | set, moved, removed, triggered |
| Funding | every payment received or paid while the position is open |
| Liquidation | a separate event on the trade's timeline |
| Limit entry orders | placed, amended, cancelled |
| Account before entry | balance, equity and your other positions when you opened |
| Market snapshot | price and volume over 5 minutes, 1 hour and 24 hours, funding, open interest |
| Order-book recording | a minute before and a minute after every action, from Binance's own book |
Fees paid in BNB are converted to USDT at Binance's BNBUSDT price — the last closed minute before the fill. That way a BNB fee counts in the trade's result too.
The free plan includes 10 order-book recordings a day. Each one holds the futures book, with the spot book of the same coin beside it if the coin trades on spot.
Not covered: spot and margin trading, coin-margined COIN-M futures, quarterly contracts with an expiry, and options.
How to create a Binance API key and connect it
Binance issues API keys only to accounts with two-factor authentication and a verified identity. You also need to have deposited into your Spot Wallet at least once — any amount will do.
- On the Binance website, click the profile icon → Account → API Management → Create API. In the app, switch to Binance Pro, then go to More → the Other section → API Management.
- Choose System generated. Self-generated keys (Ed25519 and RSA) won't work: FOQUS needs an API Key and a Secret Key.
- Name the key — FOQUS, for example — and confirm with 2FA or a passkey.
- Copy the API Key and the Secret Key. Binance shows the secret only when the key is created and hides it after that.
- Check the permissions: only Enable Reading should be on, and it is on by default. Don't turn on Enable Spot & Margin Trading, Enable Futures, Enable Withdrawals or anything else.
- Don't add an IP access restriction: FOQUS reaches Binance from several addresses. Without one, Binance itself allows such a key nothing but reading.
- Create a FOQUS account, pick Binance under Connect your own account, paste the key and the secret, and click Connect exchange.
Is it safe to give FOQUS a Binance API key?
When you connect, FOQUS asks Binance for the key's permissions. The key passes only if reading is on and everything else is off: spot, margin and futures trading, options, withdrawals and transfers between accounts. Otherwise FOQUS shows “The key is not read-only” and doesn't save it.
- FOQUS only reads: it places no orders, moves no stops, and transfers or withdraws nothing.
- It stores the API key and the secret. The secret is encrypted.
- Don't widen the key's permissions after connecting either: FOQUS has no use for them.
- To disconnect, delete the account in FOQUS — its data is deleted with it. Delete the key itself on Binance, under API Management.
What's next: from your first trade to real conclusions
Once your first trade closes, open its timeline. It shows the second you entered, when you moved the stop and how much went on funding. The journal collects all your Binance trades: as a table, as cards with a chart, or as a weekly, monthly and yearly report.
Use tags to mark the setup you traded and what didn't go to plan. Keep your thoughts on the trade in notes — you can dictate them. After a month, the overview shows which days, hours and coins make you money and which ones lose it.
Binance trading journal FAQ
Do I need Enable Futures for FOQUS to see my futures?
No. Enable Futures is permission to trade futures, not to view them. Your futures account can be read with Enable Reading alone, and FOQUS won't accept a key with Enable Futures on.
Will my old Binance history be imported?
No. FOQUS keeps the journal from the moment you connect. A position opened earlier stays out of it, even if you close it after connecting. Old trades lack what FOQUS sees for itself: the leverage at entry, your stops and the account snapshot.
Does FOQUS work with spot and COIN-M?
No. Only USDⓈ-M perpetual contracts settled in USDT and USDC. Spot, margin, COIN-M, quarterly futures and options don't go into the journal.
What does “The key is not read-only” mean?
The key has something switched on besides Enable Reading. Open the key in API Management, untick the extra permissions and connect it again. If FOQUS says “The key has no read access”, it's the other way round: turn Enable Reading on.
Why does FOQUS say “Binance rejected the key”?
Check that you copied the whole key and secret and that the key hasn't been deleted on Binance. Another cause is an IP restriction: with one, FOQUS's requests don't get through. Create a key without it. Keys from Binance.US, Binance TR and Binance TH won't work: they are separate exchanges without USDⓈ-M futures.
Can I connect several Binance accounts?
Yes, each with its own key — there's no limit on the number of accounts. The same Binance account can't be connected twice, even with different keys.