Trading bots gain traction as crypto markets move sideways: 2025 market automation trends

Source: CryptoNewsNet Original Title: Trading bots gain traction as crypto markets move sideways: HTX 2025 recap Original Link:

Automated Trading Strategies Dominate 2025

Cryptocurrency traders increasingly leaned on automated strategies in 2025 as volatile but largely range-bound markets made directional bets harder to sustain. The trend was most visible in the growing use of grid-based trading bots on spot trading platforms.

Grid trading volume rose 97% year over year in 2025, while capital allocated to grid strategies doubled. The increase was especially pronounced in stablecoin pairs, where grid trading volume rose 352% year over year, compared with 122% growth in major cryptocurrencies. The bots were typically used to capture smaller, repeated price swings rather than to bet on sustained market moves.

In grid trading, traders set a price range and let automated orders execute buy and sell orders as the market moves back and forth.

AI Agents Expand Across Trading Platforms

While grid trading bots automate execution using fixed rules, AI-powered agents are built to make autonomous decisions, interact through natural language and operate directly onchain. Several major platforms have been actively exploring AI agents.

As early as August 2024, one major exchange CEO said the platform had tested AI agents, including a transaction in which one automated bot used crypto tokens to interact with another AI system and purchase AI training data—a process described as “tokens buying tokens.”

In October 2024, this platform rolled out an agent tool that lets users create AI agents linked to crypto wallets for automated onchain activity, including trading, swaps and staking.

In October 2025, the same platform introduced a payment tool designed to let AI agents interact directly with onchain financial services without requiring API keys. The system allows large language models to access wallets, onramps and stablecoin payments through natural language prompts.

Market Sentiment and Risk Considerations

Interest in AI-managed trading appears to be rising, with an April survey showing that about 36% of respondents would allow AI agents to manage most of their crypto holdings.

However, some experts have warned about the risks. Security analysts have noted that giving AI agents access to crypto wallets adds a new layer of trust to systems designed to be trustless, shifting much of the security responsibility back to users. This represents a fundamental shift in how traders interact with automated systems and warrants careful consideration before adoption.