Trading cryptocurrencies was once a mostly manual process, where users had to select the asset they wanted to trade, build their investment plan, schedule their trades and manage all the transactions. These steps may result in double or triple-digit returns when executed correctly. 

But, really, only a handful of traders can commit to it full-time, and that's why automation has become a popular solution.

Automation means a computer program executes preset algorithms to perform a trade. Then, using many tools, including filters, signals or other forms of technical analysis, a crypto bot can execute trades on the investor's behalf. The result is that automation gives traders an edge since bots are faster and can trade multiple accounts or various strategies at once, far exceeding even what a full-time trader can complete.

One of the platforms making crypto trading bots available to everyday traders is TradeSanta. As a member of their team explains: "TradeSanta is a powerful terminal for you to trade faster, smarter and with lower risks."

The platform recently has added a marketplace feature for mirror trading. With this release, traders are given the opportunity to see and copy top-performing bots. Functionality with this feature is extended to spot and futures markets, enabling users to capitalize on opportunities to trade with leverage. To select a bot, the marketplace will include filters based on type (DCA or Grid), Strategy, Exchange, Market (spot, futures) and pair.

While copy trading is free at the moment, traders will have an option to monetize their strategies in a couple of months, meaning certain items in the marketplace will come at a cost. 

More than a cryptocurrency exchange

Unlike a cryptocurrency exchange, TradeSanta does not access users' funds. Instead, the platform exists as a software application that enables users to automate their cryptocurrency trading by integrating well-known exchanges. The platform currently automates crypto trading strategies across major exchanges, including Binance, Binance Futures, Binance.US, OKX, Huobi, Upbit, HitBTC,,Coinbase Pro, FTX and Kraken.

As an all-encompassing solution, the platform consists of several components, including a terminal, mobile app, signals and marketplace, each of which has specifically designed trading bots.

In practice, investors can set up a trading bot to execute a trade immediately or following the signal of a technical indicator they determine. After either event takes place, the bot will purchase the base currency indicated in the settings when going long. After this order is executed, the deal is considered open, enabling the bot to place the Take Profit order, which makes a profit at a level set by the user and other Extra orders. Similarly, on the short side, the bot will sell coins an investor has in their holding and buy them back lower at a pre-set price, the difference representing a profit.

If the chosen cryptocurrency price moves in the opposite direction of the strategy a user selects, one of the Extra orders is executed, and a new order is placed. Each time this happens, the associated take profit level is also revised.

Extra orders are only one of the features TradeSanta offers. There are also long and short strategy options, which an investor may choose to employ simultaneously, covering the price regardless of the asset's direction, stop loss and trading stop loss, as well as trailing take profit. Technical indicators are also available to users to ensure that crypto trading bots will enter the market at the optimal point. These indicators include RSI, MACD or Bollinger signals, TradingView signals or a combination of them. And all this is available for both spot and futures trading.