HTX says traders increased use of grid trading bots in range-bound 2025 markets

Cryptocurrency traders increasingly turned to automated strategies in 2025 as volatile but largely range-bound markets made directional bets harder to sustain, according to a year-end recap from HTX. The Seychelles-based exchange, formerly known as Huobi, said the trend was most visible in growing use of grid-based trading bots on its spot platform: grid trading volume rose 97% year over year in 2025 and capital allocated to grid strategies doubled.

HTX said the increase was especially pronounced in stablecoin pairs, where grid trading volume rose 352% year over year versus 122% growth in major cryptocurrencies. HTX described the bots as 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. HTX ranks among the world’s 10 largest exchanges by trading volume, liquidity and platform traffic, according to CoinMarketCap. While grid trading bots automate execution with fixed rules, AI-powered agents are built to make autonomous decisions, interact through natural language and operate directly onchain.

Coinbase has been among the most active exchanges exploring such agents: CEO Brian Armstrong said Coinbase had tested AI agents, including a transaction he described as “tokens buying tokens,” and the firm has rolled out tools like Based Agent and Payments MCP to enable onchain agent activity.

Key Topics

Crypto, Htx, Grid Trading, Stablecoins, Coinbase, Ai Agents