Automated trading bot

[Deckard]

This is something I've been wanting to do for a while: an automated trading bot that watches exchanges & uses various indicators to make trades based on a logic I program in. The exchanges make the mechanics of this relatively easy by providing APIs. The hard part is massaging the available data into useful information, and writing robust, profitable trading logic. I'm not terrible at day trading myself, but I'm out of practice, so figuring out a good strategy will be challenging in itself, aside from the challenge of translating it into code. I expect it will lose money for a while to begin with.

So far I'm just pulling data from a couple exchanges and graphing a few things to get a feel for it. I'm not yet sure which indicators I want to use. As a starting point I might use a combination of moving averages, volume, rate of change gradients, and price differences between exchanges.

Would love some suggestions / feedback.

[stuck]

Has hft already crossed over to crypto?

[Deckard]

Has hft already crossed over to crypto?

Most definitely, and the price manipulation that's possible with HFT is even more blatant given the low liquidity.

[LordLatch]

How high does the frequency have to be for it to be HFT? I used a bot for a while and found it doing things I didn't like. Seems like it uses a delta decision algorithm which I never put forth the effort to understand. Perhaps if I did, I would appreciate it more but it seemed to be on the wrong side of a trade every time I looked at it.

At this point the only bot I would be interested in using would be the set-it-and-forget-it type leaving me in charge of perceiving the fractal patterns on the longer time frame chart and making my decisions there. The bot would handle 'stops' in both directions because I cannot stare unblinking at the computer 24/7 and the market always moves in a way I don't expect when I'm AFK. It's maddening.

I'm starting to have a better-than-beginner portfolio so the priority for my own bot is growing.

[Deckard]

How high does the frequency have to be for it to be HFT? I used a bot for a while and found it doing things I didn't like. Seems like it uses a delta decision algorithm which I never put forth the effort to understand. Perhaps if I did, I would appreciate it more but it seemed to be on the wrong side of a trade every time I looked at it.

At this point the only bot I would be interested in using would be the set-it-and-forget-it type leaving me in charge of perceiving the fractal patterns on the longer time frame chart and making my decisions there. The bot would handle 'stops' in both directions because I cannot stare unblinking at the computer 24/7 and the market always moves in a way I don't expect when I'm AFK. It's maddening.

I'm starting to have a better-than-beginner portfolio so the priority for my own bot is growing.

Which bot did you use? How long did you run it for?

[LordLatch]

I ran this one overnight and during the day a few times.

[rhinosaur]

I ran this one overnight and during the day a few times.

I downloaded it and it's running. It seems to be very simple, only looking at the immediate / most recent slope to determine whether to buy or sell. Are most bots like this?

[Deckard]

Nobody is going to release a profitable bot for free. Or if they do, it quickly becomes unprofitable due to oversaturation. You'd need to write your own logic using the framework they provide. There are commercial bots that are significantly more advanced & configurable, but I haven't used them myself. I think the most well known one is haasbot: https://www.haasbot.com/haasonline-trading-server/

[rhinosaur]

Makes sense. I guess I was expecting the crypto-coin market to be more developed than it seems to be. The volume on BTC-e is a lot lower than I was expecting.

[Deckard]

You'll find more volume on other sites like cryptsy & mintpal. But it depends on the pair you're trading in. BTC-e is pretty limited in terms of the altcoins they list, and they've developed a poor reputation for user support.