A guide to crypto trading bots: Analyzing strategies and performance

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The cryptocurrency marketplace has witnessed a surge successful the adoption of automated trading solutions, with trading bots gaining prominence for their quality to analyse immense information sets and execute trades with precision.

Cointelegraph has dissected humanities bot revenues and token terms rollercoasters and backtested strategy returns against the buy-and-hold yardstick to decode what bots radiance brightest — and erstwhile — truthful you tin prime the cleanable bot to lucifer your benignant and tummy for risk.

We person examined 3 types of trading bots: Telegram bots trading connected decentralized exchanges (DEX), non-Telegram bots trading connected DEXs and connected centralized exchanges (CEXs), and the precocious evolving AI cause bots.

Choosing the close trading bot depends connected the user’s goals, hazard tolerance and experience. At a glance:

Telegram bots are perfect for fast, opportunistic trading similar token launches and memecoins.
AI cause bots, specified arsenic ai16z oregon Virtuals, suit users who privation hands-off automation and are comfy with experimental strategies.
CEX bots connection the astir power and are champion for structured strategies similar dollar-cost averaging (DCA), grid oregon signal-based trading.

Bot trading strategies and performance

Trading bots are blase automated systems that usage algorithms to analyse cryptocurrency marketplace information and autonomously execute trades connected centralized exchanges oregon decentralized platforms. These bots typically run continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, requiring minimal quality oversight. Their halfway relation involves the investigation of extended amounts of real-time and humanities marketplace data, including terms fluctuations, trading volumes and bid publication information.

There are galore imaginable advantages to employing AI cause trading bots. Their continuous cognition ensures that nary trading opportunities are missed, arsenic they tin show markets astir the clock, accommodating planetary marketplace movements. Some platforms offering these bots besides supply backtesting capabilities, enabling users to measure the imaginable effectiveness of antithetic trading strategies utilizing humanities information earlier deploying them with existent capital.

Telegram DEX bots

Telegram bots run via Telegram, leveraging its accessibility and real-time connection to execute trades straight connected DEXs. They often absorption connected velocity and sniping caller tokens, appealing to users successful fast-moving ecosystems similar Solana. The precocious launched protocols besides included further features that are often disposable successful CEX trading bots, specified arsenic grid trading, DCA and bounds orders.

Telegram bots specified arsenic Maestro and Unibot archetypal appeared astir 2020–2021. In 2022, galore of these bots were already offering precocious features similar transcript trading and arbitrage.

By the extremity of 2023, Solana-based bots similar BONKBot and Trojan Bot gained prominence for their velocity successful trading memecoins connected DEXs. The biggest vantage of Telegram bots is their quality to commercialized connected mobile devices without the request for a web browser hold to link to a wallet. It hugely improves the usability of mobile trading, monitoring and integration with societal networks.

The apical 5 Telegram bots by humanities trading measurement crossed each blockchains are Trojan, BonkBot, Maestro, Banana Gun and Sol Trading Bot. The bulk of the trading volumes successful the past 90 days happened connected Solana, wherever each of the apical 5 Telegram bots operate.

The functionalities offered by the Telegram bots are precise similar, with the objection that immoderate of them (i.e., Maestro and Banana Gun) absorption connected multichain operations, whereas the remainder absorption connected Solana.

The main usage lawsuit for Telegram bots is to automatically place profitable introduction and exit points and execute trades quickly; it’s precise hard to way the profits oregon losses made by idiosyncratic users from each trade. Since immoderate of the Telegram bots, specified arsenic Banana Gun and BonkBot, connection a revenue-sharing exemplary tied to their ain tokens successful the signifier of purchasing backmost their tokens with the 1% interest they charge, the token terms and gross (fees received) are utilized arsenic an approximation of the show of Telegram bots.

Looking astatine the full gross successful the past six months, Trojan has received the astir nominal magnitude successful fees (around $109 million), whereas Sol Trading Bot has the highest median regular gross erstwhile normalizing the regular gross successful presumption of the full revenue.

They each saw a highest astir January 2025 during the memecoin play but are present facing a low-revenue play owed to the broader bearish marketplace conditions.

The 2 Telegram bots that stock gross done their tokens are Banana Gun and BonkBot. Looking astatine the terms improvement successful the past six months, the show of the remaining parts is precise similar, but for the important emergence successful BONK’s terms successful November 2024. They some experienced important terms drops during the caller bearish marketplace conditions.

AI cause bots

AI cause trading bots are blase automated systems that leverage artificial quality and instrumentality learning (ML) algorithms to analyse cryptocurrency marketplace information and autonomously execute trades.

The word “agent” suggests these bots person a grade of independency and decision-making capableness that extends beyond the fixed rules of accepted automated trading systems. The astir well-known AI cause frameworks that beryllium contiguous are Virtuals and ai16z.

Virtuals Protocol, launched successful October 2024 connected the Ethereum layer-2 web Base, is an AI cause generator level designed to simplify the instauration and deployment of AI agents connected the blockchain. While Virtuals is not solely focused connected trading, the level enables the improvement of AI agents that could perchance beryllium designed for trading purposes. For instance, Aixbt, an experimental AI cause connected the platform, tracks discussions connected X to place imaginable marketplace insights, suggesting a strategy that could pass trading decisions.

Since Virtuals Protocol focuses connected a launchpad exemplary wherever agents are tokenized individually (e.g., LUNA and AIXBT) and run crossed antithetic areas specified arsenic gaming, trading and entertainment, we’ll lone look into the show of AIXBT, the token of the trading cause with the largest marketplace capitalization connected Virtuals.

Ai16z is an AI-powered trading money operating connected the Solana blockchain. Launched successful October 2024, ai16z utilizes blase AI agents, powered by the Eliza framework, to autonomously analyse marketplace data, including terms movements, societal media sentiment and onchain analytics, and execute trades.

The money functions arsenic an AI concern decentralized autonomous enactment (DAO), allowing holders of its autochthonal token to enactment successful governance by voting connected cardinal decisions and influencing trading strategies done a “virtual marketplace of trust.” AI Marc, a virtual money manager built utilizing the Eliza framework, oversees the fund’s trading activities. AI16Z tokens correspond ownership successful the money and assistance governance rights, with the agent’s actions driving token value.

Comparing the trading volumes from these 2 agents, they some reached a highest successful January 2025, with AI16Z reaching $501 cardinal and AIXBT reaching $682 million. AI16Z’s terms deed its highest somewhat earlier than its measurement high, whereas for AIXBT, the terms and measurement peaks coincided astir the aforesaid time.

AIXBT’s terms show is much awesome than AI16Z. At the peak, the token terms was astir 4,000x the archetypal terms successful November 2024, whereas for AI16Z, this was astir 111x. Even aft the caller downturn and the broader marketplace trending down, the latest terms grounds astatine the extremity of March 2025 is inactive 478x the archetypal terms for AIXBT and 6.8x for AI16Z.

DEX/CEX bots

These platforms are web-based and run extracurricular Telegram. You tin commercialized straight connected DEXs done wallet transportation oregon link to a CEX via APIs oregon a elemental login enactment arsenic portion of their integrated speech solutions.

These web-based platforms connection a wide scope of strategies and broader marketplace access; they cater to users preferring some CEX liquidity and reliability arsenic good arsenic DEX’s decentralized, non-custodial nature. Some of these platforms besides connection a speedy power betwixt DEX and CEX with 1 click, making the find of terms discrepancies betwixt CEX and DEX (or CEX-DEX arbitrage) overmuch easier.

The astir communal strategies disposable connected these platforms are grid, DCA and awesome bot. A DCA bot invests a fixed magnitude of wealth into a cryptocurrency astatine regular intervals — careless of the asset’s price. The thought is to dispersed retired your introduction points implicit time, which helps trim the interaction of marketplace volatility. This benignant of strategy tends to execute good during price-trending periods.

A grid bot is built for progressive trading — buying debased and selling precocious successful a structured mode to nett from terms fluctuations. A grid bot places a bid of bargain and merchantability bounds orders astatine preset intervals supra and beneath a acceptable terms range. This creates a “grid” of orders, and the bot profits from each completed buy-low/sell-high cycle. Grid bot works champion successful sideways markets with precocious volatility.

A awesome bot executes trades based connected outer signals — these usually travel from method indicators, marketplace investigation oregon third-party services. These signals tin beryllium comparative spot scale (RSI), exponential moving averages (EMA), Bollinger Bands, etc.

The pursuing array shows the humanities show for the token pairs BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT and SOL/USDT for the 3 trading strategies. The parameter enactment for the grid bot utilizes the 3Commas AI optimization built-in functionality to prime the champion parameters, whereas for DCA, the astir fashionable classical trading strategy from their users is selected.

For the awesome bot, Dash2Trade provides strategy presets wherever the apical strategy for each token is selected. These strategies are backtested connected a proprietary strategy utilized to commercialized connected unrecorded markets but are lone disposable for the 120 days earlier Jan. 26, 2025.

Due to a deficiency of accordant availability of information connected the platforms, 3 backtesting periods were utilized for each of the 3 strategies. The array beneath shows the elemental terms alteration during the corresponding period, which is besides the instrumentality for the elemental benchmark buy-and-hold strategy.

The disposable information suggests that show tin alteration wide based connected the circumstantial bot, the trading strategy employed and the prevailing marketplace conditions astatine the clip the backtests were run.

During the 120-day play from Sept. 26, 2024, to Jan. 26, 2025, erstwhile the awesome bots were backtested, the marketplace prices for Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) were each upward trending with a buy-and-hold instrumentality of 58%, 23% and 55%, respectively. The awesome bots’ strategies were performing successful enactment with the buy-and-hold strategy (in immoderate cases somewhat worse) for BTC (58.15%), ETH (16.79%) and SOL (48.68%).

Comparing the aforesaid 120-day play but from Dec. 4, 2024, to April 4, 2025, erstwhile grid bots were backtested, the marketplace prices for BTC, ETH and SOL were each experiencing a downward trend, with a buy-and-hold instrumentality of -16%, -53% and -49%, respectively, which is wholly antithetic from the erstwhile 120-day backtesting period. The grid bots’ strategies were performing overmuch amended than the buy-and-hold strategy during the downward-trending, high-volatility marketplace conditions, giving affirmative returns for BTC (9.6%), ETH (10.4%) and SOL (21.88%).

For the longest 180-day backtesting play from Oct. 4, 2024, to April 4, 2025, erstwhile the DCA bots were backtested, the buy-and-hold returns for BTC, ETH and SOL were 34%, -25% and -18%, respectively. The awesome bots’ strategies were performing precise otherwise for the 3 tokens compared to the buy-and-hold strategy.

For BTC, a 17.75% instrumentality is generated from the DCA bots, which is worse than the buy-and-hold strategy. However, for ETH (58.12%) and SOL (80.92%), the DCA returns are overmuch amended than the buy-and-hold returns. This mightiness beryllium owed to the information that ETH and SOL experienced overmuch higher volatility during the play compared to BTC, and the DCA strategy was capable to dispersed retired introduction prices to trim vulnerability to atrocious timing.

Trading bot show comparison

Telegram DEX bots similar Trojan and Sol Trading Bot dominated successful gross implicit the past six months, with Trojan earning astir $109 cardinal successful fees. Sol Trading Bot stood retired for accordant regular net comparative to its size.

However, each bots saw gross highest during the January 2025 memecoin hype and person since slowed owed to bearish marketplace sentiment. Token-linked bots (BANANA, BONK) followed a akin signifier — little surges (notably BONK successful November 2024) followed by steep drops tied to broader marketplace trends.

AI cause bots showed explosive maturation during the aforesaid period. AIXBT reached a highest terms 4,000x its archetypal value, acold outperforming AI16Z (111x). Even post-correction, AIXBT held beardown astatine 478x vs. AI16Z’s 6.8x. Volume-wise, some peaked successful January 2025, but AIXBT’s token terms intimately tracked its measurement rise, suggesting beardown speculative momentum.

CEX/DEX signals, grid and DCA bots showed the value of marketplace conditions, and the show results alteration rather a batch compared to the buy-and-hold strategy.

Signal bots performed adjacent to the buy-and-hold strategy during the uptrend marketplace information (backtesting play September 2024–January 2025), with marginally little oregon akin returns.
Grid bots excelled during a downtrend and precocious volatility situation (backtesting play December 2024–April 2025), beating the buy-and-hold strategy by wide margins, flipping antagonistic marketplace returns into double-digit gains.
DCA bots implicit a 180-day backtesting play (October 2024–April 2025) had mixed results; they underperformed the buy-and-hold strategy for BTC but dramatically outperformed ETH and SOL, astir apt owed to their quality to sorb and capitalize connected volatility.

Key takeaways

We person dived into the chaotic satellite of AI-powered crypto trading bots, pitting Telegram DEX bots, AI cause bots and CEX/DEX bots against each different — each a unsocial instrumentality tailored to antithetic traders and marketplace conditions.

Telegram DEX bots are designed for easiness of use, with a elemental interface embedded successful the Telegram app. These bots absorption connected trading memecoins oregon participating successful token launches onchain. They entreaty to mobile-savvy traders and memecoin enthusiasts who prioritize speedy trades and societal integration, with features specified arsenic transcript commercialized and revenue-sharing done tokens.

Telegram DEX bots generated important gross successful the past six months, peaking successful January 2025’s memecoin season. But not each of them stock gross with the users. The lone 2 who did (BANANA, BONK) faltered successful the caller bearish market, with token prices dropping sharply.

AI cause bots usage earthy connection interfaces and AI decision-making to little the obstruction to introduction for users funny successful governance (e.g., AI16Z’s DAO model) oregon sentiment-driven strategies (e.g., AIXBT’s X analysis). Their superior spot lies successful abstracting analyzable trading strategies done conversational interfaces.

Although AI cause bots’ token terms exhibited explosive growth, the caller marketplace downtrend has led to little trading enactment and little token prices. AI cause bots basal retired arsenic a much experimental category. They stay nether improvement and are champion suited for users who are tech-curious oregon seeking a hybrid betwixt simplicity and automation.

Bots operating connected DEXs oregon CEXs straight connection web-based platforms with divers strategies, suiting much experienced traders who request high-speed execution, multi-exchange access, heavy liquidity and analyzable configurability. The backtesting results amusement awesome bots springiness akin returns to the bullish buy-and-hold strategy, whereas grid bots thrive successful volatile downturn markets, and DCA bots outperform the buy-and-hold strategy for much volatile assets.

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