Over the past few years, there has been an increasing interest in Bitcoin trading bots. Because everyone wants to make money with cryptocurrency without much effort, trading bots are usually a pretty safe choice.

Last updated: September 17th, 2019

Top 8 Bitcoin Trading Bots

With over a dozen different trading bots on the market today, it can be difficult to determine which solution works best. The following 8 options – in no particular – are definitely worth checking out. Each software has their own unique advantages and drawbacks depending on what you are looking for exactly.

3Commas (Still Relatively New)

As is always the case when dealing with trading bots, there is never a guarantee of making a profit. Even so, it would appear most users of the 3Commas bot are more than happy with how this solution performs, even during the bear market. This bot will not only take users’ target gain into account, but it will also attempt to complete every trade at the most profitable position. This will allow users to make more profit during a bull run, and offer them a better chance of netting a profit during a bear market.

Other features worth checking out include multi-currency support, a cloud-based interface, and the supported exchanges. This list includes Binance and Bittrex, although support for BitFinex, KuCoin, and others will be added in the near future. While this is not a free trading bot, the $24 starter plan won’t deter too many people under any circumstance. For more advanced and experienced traders, other plans are available as well, all of which come with their own price tag.

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Gekko (The Free Option)

Most users getting their feet wet in the world of Bitcoin trading bots will want to at the very least explore the free option. Gekko seems like a good fit, as the bot can be used free of charge, which is also what makes it so popular among traders. This particular bot also has a few built-in trading strategies to get users acquainted quickly. Additional strategies can also be downloaded online and loaded without hassle. On the exchange front, Gekko supports Bitfinex, BitStamp, Poloniex, and a few others. For all of its selling points however, Gekko’s setup process is still rather awkward and clunky. Following a proper guide is well-advised in this regard.

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Autonio (Self-professed Decentralized Trading Bot)

Decentralization is the buzz word in cryptocurrency these days. As such, there has to be at least one – albeit self-professed – decentralized trading bot. Known as Autonio, it runs on top of the Ethereum blockchain and is compatible with the vast majority of cryptocurrency exchanges available today. Trading strategies and algorithms are built-in, but users can also customize the preferences accordingly. Customized trading strategies can also be sold on the built-in marketplace, which may be an option worth exploring for more advanced users.

There are a few financial drawbacks to Autonio. It requires the use of its ERC-20 token for buying services, which is currently only listed on Bittrex. Additionally, the bot is rather expensive, with a $50 monthly fee. While it is still a powerful solution, new users may find it difficult to justify the steep costs. On the upside, if you run the bot on a 24/7 basis and assuming you use good strategies, earning the monthly fee back should not be too much of a problem.

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ProfitTrailer (Another Relatively New Bot)

Although ProfitTrailer might not sound too familiar, it is a Bitcoin trading bot which is seemingly capable of achieving huge profits. Under the hood, this solution offers automatic trading, market-monitoring features, and offers potential trades based on how individual markets are shifting. For the “lazier” crypto trader, those features will undoubtedly come in handy. Perhaps its most telling feature is the dollar cost averaging, which helps improve upon traders’ profit potential accordingly. It also supports most of the major exchanges available today. On the price side of things, this bot costs between $499 and $1,149 for lifetime packages or $45-$60 for monthly packages.

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Margin.de / Leonardo Bot (Very user-friendly)

In the world of Bitcoin trading bots, finding a user-friendly option is unfortunately not that easy. Leonardo Bot – now known as Margin.de – checks the right boxes in this regard. It also packs quite the punch in terms of features and options. Two built-in strategies are provided, but customization is an option. Due to its recent price change to a one-time fee between $89 and $1,999, the bot has also become more appealing to traders.

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Haasbot (The Veteran Option)

Ever since discussions pertaining to trading bots surfaced, Haasbot has been able to make a name for itself. It is one of the oldest solutions available today. With its cloud-based infrastructure and support for all popular exchanges, it is a versatile solution. Unlike other offerings, the built-in trading strategy can be quite lucrative, which can make novice and veteran users a lot of good money. However, for those unfamiliar with market conditions, this may not be the best option. Price-wise, Haasbot costs 0.127 BTC for a full year, which is still somewhat expensive for most people.

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Zenbot (Free Advanced Bot)

Similar to Gecko, Zenbot is a free Bitcoin trading bot, but one that offers slightly advanced features. It also has its own pre-configured strategy, but it is advised users customize this sooner or later to maximize their profit potential. With most popular exchanges supported, and no price tag, Zenbot is a project slowly gaining more popularity among cryptocurrency traders. The added benefit of high-frequency trading should not be overlooked either.

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Gunbot (Plethora of Built-in Strategies)

 

Whereas most Bitcoin trading bots come with one or two pre-configured trading strategies, Gunbot is a very different creature altogether. It has no less than 32 different strategies, which makes the process of trading Bitcoin for profit a lot more straightforward. It also supports most top trading platforms, including Binance. With its one-time fee of 0.04 BTC up to 0.25 BTC, it is still a relatively cheap solution for those who plan to use Gunbot for the long-term. One of the major selling points of Gunbot is how its customer support is often praised, which is crucial in this industry.

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Bitcoin Trading Bot Common Questions

To those new to bitcoin and cryptocurrency, trading bots might be a new concept. If you aren’t familiar with trading bots don’t fret, the below questions should help you understand exactly what trading bots are, how they work, how to use them and whether they are safe to use in the first place.

What are Bitcoin Trading Bots?

If you haven’t used a bitcoin or other cryptocurrency trading bot before you might be confused as to what it is exactly. In short, a trading bot is a third party software that connects to your account on a cryptocurrency exchange. Most of the time, the connection is made via an API which all the top cryptocurrency exchanges have. Once the trading bot connects to your exchange account, you can then allow it to make trades for you. You can define a threshold amount that you will let the bot trade for you and various other strategies and options.

Are Bitcoin Trading Bots Safe?

The first question that might pop into your mind when looking into trading bots is the fact if they are safe to use. The short answer is – yes, trading bots are safe. However, it’s important to understand that it how safe a trading bot is really depends on which trading bot you are using. If you find a trading bot on some sketchy forum with absolutely no reputation and an anonymous developer, chances are when you connect it to your exchange account the balance will be drained.

If you decide to use a reputable trading bot that has plenty of reviews and not an anonymous development team, your exchange balance will most likely be safe because there will be someone to hold accountable in the event of a catastrophic failure. What’s more, is a lot of exchanges have different API verification for trading and withdrawals. Meaning, while it would still be possible for a bot to make terrible trades and lose your balance, the bot cannot actually withdraw funds from the exchange.

Should I use a Bitcoin Trading Bot?

As a cryptocurrency enthusiast, it’s a good idea to at least try using a trading bot so that you are familiar with the concept of what they do and how they work. On the off chance that you really like the idea of trading based on predefined strategies without having to look at the charts all day long, trading bots is an option worth exploring. However, if you don’t trust technical indicators and prefer to trade based on news or events, then trading bots might not be the greatest fit for you.

Top Bitcoin Trading Bot Strategies

A trading bot is a tool, it won’t magically make the best trades possible with no input from the user. There are various strategies you can employ when using the trading bot depending on your level of experience and other preferences.

Half Trading

This is a strategy for those new to using a trading bot that will get you familiarized with automatic trading. Half trading has to do with phases, the first phase is called “sell trading” – this is when you decide what coins to buy and only let the bot sell the coins for you at high prices. The second phase is called “buy trading” – where you only let the bot buy coins for you at cheap prices. Using half trading minimizes the complexity of your trading algorithm and allows you to get familiarized with how trading bots operate.

Market Making

One of the most popular trading bot strategies and one you can see in play on almost any exchange is market making. This is an automated strategy that simply provides liquidity to both sides of the order book. This means if there is a large gap between the buy and sell orders, the both will create small order to either undersell or overbuy the order closest to the gap. This is a relatively low risk trading strategy that performs best when the market is trading sideways within a small range.

Arbitrage Trading

This is another extremely popular trading strategy that is common not only with the use of trading bots but with manual trading as well. Arbitraging takes advantage of price differences of the same coin among different exchanges. For example, if $XYZ is trading at $1 on one exchange and $1.10 on another exchange you can buy the coin on one exchange and sell it on another for a quick profit. Arbitraging with trading bots automates the process but it does have some drawbacks. If the market is volatile, you may end up with a loss if the coin you are trying to arbitrage drops in value. Moreover, if the coin is appreciating in value you will miss out on potential gains if you sell it prematurely.

Algorithmic Trading

This is a more advanced trading strategy that focuses on trading based on technical indicators. Some trading bots allow you to import various trading strategies that rely on Moving Averages, Bollinger Bands, Fib Retracements and other technical indicators. You are able to provide a set of conditions based on various indicators and if the market meets those conditions the bot will perform a certain action. This trading strategy is meant for advanced traders who already have experience with traditional stock and crypto trading.

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