A Guide to OKX’s Trading Bots (EEA Region)

OKX is primarily known for its low fees, advanced trading experience, and support for multiple cryptocurrencies. However, the platform also offers several useful trading bots. This guide explores their features and how users can automate trades and enhance strategies in 2025.

What is a trading bot?

Bots have reshaped trading by automating complex and rapid trading strategies, and as a result, have become crucial with the advent of high-frequency trading (HFT). 

They emerged from advancements in quantitative finance, enabling traders to execute large volumes of orders at extremely high speeds.

Some people theorize that these automated systems conduct most trading in today’s financial markets, which can execute orders at speeds and volumes unattainable by human traders.

This shift towards bot-driven trading was highlighted in Michael Lewis’s book “Flash Boys,” which exposed how these bots could exploit market inefficiencies.

“A big Wall Street bank really had only one advantage in an ever-faster financial market: first shot at its own customers’ stock market trades. So long as the customers remained inside the dark pool and in the dark, the bank might profit at their expense. But even here the bank would never do the job as efficiently or thoroughly as a really good HFT.”

– Michael Lewis in his book Flash Boys.

A look at OKX’s trading bots (EU only)

OKX is among the first MiCA-licensed global crypto exchanges to offer services in the E.U. This means that users in 28 countries can access its bots, particularly the DCA and Spot Grid bots.

There are many bots available for various scenarios, as well as a trading bot marketplace for users to create and use bots created by others. OKX provides industry-standard and rigorously tested trading bots for users to take advantage of.

1. DCA bot

This is advantageous because the BTC price is volatile — it may go up or down. Yet, if buyers make multiple purchases at regular intervals, they can acquire a significant amount of crypto, regardless of price change.

The OKX DCA bot’s strategy begins with an initial order that is programmed to execute a specific number of times.  If the asset’s price drops by a certain percentage, chosen by the user, the bot will execute another trade that’s a multiple of the first order.

Users can select their risk profile with several parameters or choose from the backtested pre-set AI parameters: conservative, moderate, and aggressive.

The Spot DCA bot is designed to build or exit crypto positions in the spot market gradually. 

2. Grid bot

A grid bot is a type of trading bot that operates on a systematic strategy known as grid trading. This strategy profits from market volatility by automatically executing buy orders at lower prices and sell orders at higher prices. 

Grid bot: Spot 

As the name suggests, the Spot Grid bot operates in spot markets. It is designed to buy crypto at low prices and sell it at higher prices within a user-specified price range. 

The bot spends a portion of your allocated funds to purchase assets based on your set trading range and the current market price. 

The OKX Futures Grid bot sets an order at predetermined price levels above and below the initial entry price. It has three modes: long, short, and neutral. 

• Long: The bot will open and close long positions. 
• Short: The bot opens and closes short positions. 
• Neutral: The bot will open or close short positions above the market price and open or close long positions below the market price.

Additionally, in a downtrend, filled buy orders may lead to losses. The same applies to sell orders in an uptrending market. Therefore, traders should keep in mind that the grid bot may lack flexibility should a market’s conditions suddenly change.

How to set up a trading bot? 

To set up a trading bot on OKX, navigate to the “Trading Bots” section under the “Trade” menu, choose either Spot Grid or Spot DCA, and select either smart strategy or manual configuration. 

For manual setup, define your trading range (upper and lower price limits), grid quantity, and investment amount. For smart strategies, you can choose a pre-set strategy and customize it, or use the system-recommended settings. 

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the process:

1. Accessing trading bots:
   1. Log in to your OKX account.
   2. Go to the “Trade” menu and select “Trading Bots”.
   3. Choose either “Spot Grid” or “Futures Grid” based on your preference. 

2. Spot frid bot setup:
   1. Select trading asset: Choose the cryptocurrency pair you want to trade (e.g., BTC/EUR). 
   2. Manual Setup:
      • Click the “Manual” button for custom settings. 
      • Define the “Lower Limit” (the lowest price the bot will buy) and “Upper Limit” (the highest price the bot will sell). 
      • Set the “Grid Quantity” (the number of price intervals within the range). 
      • Enter your desired “Investment Amount”. 

3. Smart strategy
   • Choose “Smart Strategy” for pre-set or recommended settings. 
   • Follow the on-screen instructions to customize or confirm the settings.

Trading bots are free for all OKX users. However, OKX fees for spot trading still apply. 

What are the risks involved in using trading bots?

Trading bots are powerful tools in the right hands. They can magnify the potential of an experienced trader and, conversely, compound the losses of an inexperienced one.

Even so, an experienced trader can manage and mitigate many risks, but it’s important to note that not all trading bots carry the same inherent risks.

For example, with a grid futures trading bot that executes long buy orders as the price decreases in a down-trending market, this strategy would lead to compounding losses if the market does not eventually pivot.

In the image below, imagine executing a long order at the top, the middle, and then the bottom. You may recoup the losses of the first two orders if the market retraces; however, there is no guarantee that this will occur.

To summarize the risks of all trading bots, they work until they don’t. It is up to the trader to understand:

1. How does the bot work?
2. What market was it made to operate in?
3. In what scenarios will I lose trades?

Never use a trading bot without ensuring you are clear on all three of these elements.

Trading bots are not a panacea

OKX trading bots are nifty tools. With the many strategies and bots available, users have the potential to take advantage of any market. This is even more true when factoring in the bot marketplace, where users can create and exchange potentially profitable strategies.

However, users should remain aware that no bot can guarantee profits 100% of the time. Therefore, you should limit the amount of capital you allocate to such tools and ensure you understand the risks before placing any trades.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Always do your own research (DYOR).

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