1. What Is a Spot Grid Bot?
A spot grid bot is an automated trading strategy designed for volatile markets, ideal for buying low and selling high. It's suitable for short, medium, and long-term trading. You simply set parameters like the price range and the number of grids, and the bot takes care of the rest. Once activated, the bot divides your funds into several portions, buying in increments as the price drops and selling in increments as the price rises. By capitalizing on market fluctuations, it continually buys low and sells high to capture profits from volatility.
2. Spot Grid Strategy Overview
Advantages:
Spot grid bots are beginner-friendly and help minimize emotional decision-making errors in volatile markets. They operate 24/7, automatically executing buy and sell orders, so you can profit from the market without constant monitoring.
- In an oscillating uptrend: Users can profit from both price appreciation and volatility arbitrage.
- In an oscillating downtrend: Volatility arbitrage helps reduce user losses.
Disadvantages:
However, spot grid bots are not all-powerful. They can only go long, which means they may get stuck in a one-sided downtrend, have relatively low capital utilization, and can easily move out of the set range.
Which Trading Pairs Are Suitable for Spot Grid Trading?
If you’re new to trading, it’s recommended to choose mainstream, high-liquidity coins with strong consensus, such as BTC_USDT or ETH_USDT. You can refer to the trading activity of the top 100 digital assets on Gate, as ranked by CMC. If you have a deeper understanding of spot grid trading, you can try other highly volatile pairs to pursue higher profits.
3. Spot Grid Parameters Explained
Spot Grid Terminology:
AI Smart Grid: The AI Smart Grid uses historical data from the past 7 days to backtest and automatically calculates the grid parameters with the highest yield: upper price limit, lower price limit, and number of grids. Users only need to select the investment amount (the chosen amount must be at least the minimum investment).
Fill AI Data: Automatically fetches and fills in AI Smart Grid data.
Clear All Shortcut: If you need to clear multiple data entries, use this shortcut instead of deleting them one by one. After clicking, simply reset the parameters.
Lower Price Limit: The lowest buying price. The bot won’t buy if the market price falls below this level, and no sell orders can be executed at this price.
Upper Price Limit: The highest selling price. The bot won’t sell if the market price rises above this level, and no buy orders can be executed at this price.
Number of Grids: The number of grids to execute, ranging from 2 to 1000.
Grid Spacing:
Suppose the grid spacing is q, the upper price limit is a1, the lower price limit is a2, and the number of grids is n. The formula for arithmetic grid spacing q is:
The formula for geometric grid actual floating ratio q is:
Single Grid Yield:
Suppose the grid spacing is q, the upper price limit is a1, the lower price limit is a2, and the number of grids is n.
Geometric Single Grid Yield:
Arithmetic Single Grid Yield:
Single grid base trade quantity: The quantity of the selected coin to buy/sell in each grid.
Quantity Increment: Quantity increment is off by default. When enabled, you can choose to increase the buy/sell quantity for each grid by a fixed amount or percentage, as shown below:
Example: If the single grid base trade quantity is 1 and quantity increment is 2, the first grid will buy/sell 1 BTC, the second grid will buy/sell 1+2=3 BTC, the third grid will buy/sell 1+2+2=5 BTC, and so on.
Advanced Settings: The above are basic parameter settings required for all users. For a cleaner interface, not all advanced settings are displayed by default; click to reveal them. Advanced settings include optional fields you can fill in as needed.
Advanced Settings Parameter Explanation:
- Strategy Trigger Price: The grid will only start running when the latest market price is less than or equal to the trigger price. The trigger price must be lower than the latest price and within the grid range.
- Stop-Loss Price: If the latest market price is less than or equal to this price, a stop-loss is triggered. Must be lower than the lower price limit.
- Take-Profit Price: If the latest market price is greater than or equal to this price, a take-profit is triggered. Must be higher than the upper price limit.
- Settlement Options (Optional):
- Sell Holdings at Termination: When enabled, all held coins will be sold at market price for USDT when the strategy ends.
- Coin Accumulation Mode: When enabled, grid profits are immediately converted into the selected coin. In spot grid coin accumulation mode, if you are bullish on the coin long-term, the arbitrage profits from each buy and sell are used to buy more coins at the latest market price, effectively accumulating more coins over time.
You can view the profit-to-coin conversion records for grids with coin accumulation mode enabled in the accumulation records.
Note: If the profit from a single grid's buy-sell cycle is less than the system's minimum order amount, the profit will be temporarily stored. Once the profit reaches the minimum order amount, it will be used to buy coins at the latest market price.
Tip: "Sell holdings at termination" and "Coin accumulation mode" can be enabled at the same time.
4. How to Create/Terminate a Spot Grid
4.1 How to Create a Spot Grid
You have three creation modes:
- Smart Creation: Beginners can directly use the recommended bots for 7-day/30-day/180-day backtesting. These are based on historical market trends and smart algorithms.
- Copy Trading Creation: If smart creation doesn’t meet your needs, you can filter for top users in the recommended bots section and copy their bots.
- Custom Creation: Set your own parameters and trigger conditions based on your judgment of the market range, then confirm the investment amount to create a grid.
Spot Grid Custom Creation Process
WEB:
Trading Bots - Spot Grid - Select Trading Pair - Ultra AI/Manual Grid Configuration - Create
APP:
Trading Bots - Create Bot - Spot Grid - Select Trading Pair - Ultra AI/Recommended Bot/Manual Grid Configuration - Create
4.2 How to Terminate a Spot Grid
You can terminate a spot grid bot at any time. Please note:
- If the spot grid bot no longer fits the current market, it should be stopped.
- Spot grid bots are not ultra-short-term strategies; most grids need time to operate before reaching expected returns.
- Since the bot buys low and sells high, the grid profit curve may initially decline before rising. Early losses are normal in theory.
5. How to View/Withdraw Spot Grid Profits
WEB:
Go to My Bots - Active Bots - Spot Grid, enter the spot grid bot order to view or withdraw profits.
APP:
Trading - Trading Bots - My Bots - Running - Enter the spot grid bot order to view or withdraw profits.
6. How to Maximize Spot Grid Profits
Spot grid bots divide your funds into several portions based on your set price range and number of grids, buying in increments as prices fall and selling as they rise to continually capture grid profits in a volatile market. So, how can you maximize your spot grid profits? Generally, grid profits are closely related to the number of grids, grid range, trading fees, and other factors. Reasonable settings for grid count and range, as well as minimizing fees, can help maximize profits.
6.1 Set a Reasonable Grid Range
The grid range is the expected price fluctuation range for a period, i.e., the upper and lower price limits. If the range is too narrow, you can set fewer grids and may easily move out of range, causing the strategy to fail. If the range is too wide, you might miss out on short-term arbitrage opportunities, as small fluctuations are harder to capture.
You can use Bollinger Bands, ATR channels, or longer-term candlesticks (usually daily or weekly) as indicators to help judge the range. For example, the upper and lower bands of the Bollinger Bands can serve as the grid’s upper and lower limits. Bollinger Bands assume prices will fluctuate within the bands, with a low probability of breaking out. If a breakout occurs, prices often revert to the channel. However, in a strong uptrend, the lower band may widen, causing the grid range to deviate and reducing capital utilization and returns. In this case, ATR channels can be used instead, as they don't widen like Bollinger Bands. A weekly ATR channel is often used for grid range limits.
Two Ways to Determine Grid Range:
1. Using Bollinger Bands
Bollinger Bands consist of three lines: the upper and lower bands serve as resistance and support, and the middle line is the average price. Prices generally move within the bands and adjust as prices change. When the bands narrow, sharp price movements may follow; if highs or lows cross the bands and quickly return, a pullback is likely.
Method: Directly find the upper and lower Bollinger Bands (boll) for the chosen period and use them as reference for the grid’s price limits. The larger the standard deviation, the wider the price range. The images below show applications with 2x and 3x standard deviations—3x covers a wider range.
2. Using Average True Range (ATR)
ATR is the moving average of price volatility over a set period. A higher ATR value suggests a greater chance of trend change; a lower value suggests weaker movement. It’s mainly used to determine entry and exit timing.
Method: Use the ATR price range for the chosen period as the grid’s upper and lower limits. For example, ATR(7) means the average true range over the past 7 days; use this as your grid range. See below:
Tip: You can add the ATR indicator by searching for it in the technical indicators section below the TradingView candlestick chart.
6.2 Set a Reasonable Number of Grids
The number of grids refers to how many price levels are set between the upper and lower limits, typically between 2 and 200. Grid profit = (price difference per grid) × (quantity bought per grid) × (number of completed sell orders). The number of grids affects trading frequency: too many grids can lead to excessive trading; too few may mean missed opportunities.
More grids mean denser trading, higher frequency, and the ability to capture smaller price movements. However, each trade is smaller, reducing capital utilization and per-grid profit, while increasing trading fees. Fewer grids mean less frequent trading, higher capital utilization per grid, and higher per-grid profit, but fewer opportunities and lower fees.
The example below compares different grid counts. Suppose a user sets up a BTC/USDT grid with an upper limit of 7000 USDT, a lower limit of 1000 USDT, and starts at 6800.
In Figure 1, there are grid lines at 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000. Buy orders are placed at 6000, 5000, 4000, and 3000; sell orders at 3000, 4000, 6000, and 7000.
Each sell order is paired with a buy order below the current price. If BTC rises above 7000 or falls below 1000, the strategy pauses. When it returns to the grid range, trading resumes. The price curve crosses the grid lines 27 times, meaning 27 buy/sell operations and 13 arbitrage profits. However, with only 1000 USDT per grid, per-grid profit is lower, and 27 trades incur more fees.
In Figure 2, there are only two grid lines at 3000 and 5000. Buy orders are placed at 5000 and 3000; sell orders at 3000, 5000, and 7000. Each sell order is paired with a buy order below the current price.
Again, if BTC rises above 7000 or falls below 1000, the strategy pauses. When it returns to the grid range, trading resumes. The price curve crosses the grid lines 13 times, meaning 13 buy/sell operations and 13 arbitrage profits. Each grid uses 2000 USDT, so per-grid profit is higher, and only 13 trades incur fees.
Comparing the two, fewer grids mean fewer captured price swings. Figure 2 misses out on profits at 2000, 4000, and 6000 due to the wider grid spacing. However, Figure 1 uses capital less efficiently and incurs more fees, reducing per-grid profit. Both approaches have pros and cons, so the number of grids should be balanced based on your timeframe.
6.3 Reduce Fees
Grid yield = grid arbitrage rate – (trading fee rate × 2).
Grid arbitrage is gross profit; after deducting trading fees, the remainder is your net grid profit. To maximize net profit, minimize trading fees by:
- Choosing coins with lower fees. Gate currently offers some zero-fee pairs, such as BTC-USDT.
- Upgrading your VIP level to lower trading fees.
- Using perpetual contracts with good liquidity as an alternative to spot trading.
- Setting grid range and number reasonably to avoid unnecessary trades. Grid range, grid count, and fee rate are all interlinked, so proper settings are crucial.
7. Auto-Moving Grid Feature in Spot Grid
The [Moving Grid] feature in spot grid advanced settings allows the bot’s grid range to automatically adjust up or down in response to market changes. There are two trigger types: moving average and breakout.
Moving grid explained: After the grid is running, if the price breaks out of the grid range, the bot will automatically adjust the grid range up or down based on your selected method, helping you avoid missing out on uptrends or getting stuck in downtrends.
Moving grid features:
- The grid’s upper and lower price limits move by the same amount.
- The number of grids stays the same after moving.
- Since the grid count is unchanged, per-grid yield remains the same.
Moving grid trigger conditions:
- Moving Average: After the bot is launched (or after adjusting the price range), if the latest price is outside the grid range and the 720-minute moving average rises or falls by the set percentage, the bot will automatically adjust the price range up or down. If the 720-minute MA rises, the grid moves up; if it falls, the grid moves down.
- Breakout: After the bot is launched (or after adjusting the price range), if the latest price breaks above the upper grid limit by at least one grid spacing, the entire grid moves up by one grid. If the price breaks below the lower grid limit by at least one grid spacing, the grid moves down by one grid. The grid count remains the same, and trading continues in the new range.
How to Enable the Moving Grid Feature?
Trading Bots - Spot Grid - Ultra AI/Manual Configuration - Advanced Settings - Fill in relevant moving grid parameters
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