Automated Crypto Trading Platforms

eToro Offers The Best Cryptocurrency Copy Trader Platform

The most popular copy trading broker is eToro based on:

• The most advanced copy trading platform
• The widest range of traders to follow and trade from
• The diverse range of crypto products that can be traded
• Competitive trading fees
• A low $200 minimum deposit and free demo account

eToro is the leading and best-known copy trading platform out there. While traders can decide not to copy other trades, it’s really for copy trading that eToro has made a name for itself.

One thing to remember is that when copy trading, since you’re following the trader, you strictly follow all the trades they open and close. Their trades appear automatically in your account and while you’re free to close them yourself, you won’t necessarily get the profitability the trader’s track record suggests you’ll get. It’s very much a hands-off deal – you have to allow the copied trader to get on with the job they do best.

eToro calls these traders “Popular Traders” and they’re compensated by the amount of money allocated by other eToro clients to follow the copied trader. More Assets Under Management (AUM) means more compensation for the Popular Trader. Obviously, copied traders only become copied because they’re performing well. The goal is a win/win with the copied trader making money, the trader who copies trades and eToro through the brokerage.

Verdict Of eToro For Copy Trading

Australian traders looking for a copy trading facility should choose eToro based on their tailor-made propriety software, large trader community and trading environment including leverage.

*Your capital is at risk ‘68% of retail CFD accounts lose money’

IC Markets With ZuluTrade Offers Advanced Social Trading

Social trading with IC Markets allows:

• Trading across 10 different cryptocurrency CFDs
• Integration with the MT5 or cTrader platform
• Low fee trading from forex, crypto to indices

There are three account types, Standard, Raw, and cTrader Raw and they differ in cost with the Standard account being the most expensive. By signing up via their Australian branch, you have the assurance they’re regulated by the ASIC and as a consequence, you’ll be offered up to 2:1 leverage. What makes IC Markets most interesting is the ability to integrate with ZuluTrade.

What Is ZuluTrade?

Like eToro, ZuluTrade allows traders to replicate the trades of proven traders and increase the likelihood of being profitable it’s also a way of accessing automated trading, and that’s why we like it. However, unlike eToro where the broker itself is eToro, ZuluTrade overlays on top of your chosen broker, in much the same way as the MetaTrader platforms do. ZuluTrade has partnered with several brokers but our favoured is IC Markets.

Experienced traders who are copied are known as Signal Providers. These providers have to opt in to share their trades and be followed, but in return, they are rewarded by the profitability of the strategies they’re following. Followers are the traders, who, as you might have guessed, follow Signal Providers.

All traders can both share ideas and leave feedback, in the same way, you might do on Facebook or Twitter which adds to the sense that this really is “social trading”.

Verdict On IC Markets

IC Markets is the best choice for low-fee trading with strong customer support and social trading facilities. In addition to ZuluTrade, crypto traders can select cTrader or MetaTrader 5.

FXCM Offers The Best Automated Trading With No Coding

If you like the idea of building your own trading robots with no code, then Capitalise.ai provides a (relatively) hassle-free way of automating your trade research and execution. Capitalise.ai is available with FXCM, as either a standalone platform or integrated with FXCM’s in-house developed Trading Station.

The tool gives you the ability to create your own robots to scan markets looking for the right conditions and then execute trades for you. This is possible thanks to sophisticated A.I. and machine learning.

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing technology are not just marketing buzz words with FXCM, the broker offers Capitalise.ai to empower non-programmers to create trading strategies using plain English rather than coding.

Capitalise.ai is a separate entity to FXCM and sits on top of the broker – FXCM simply executes the trades. You get all the benefits of this established broker but through Capitalise.ai, and using natural language you’re also able to create automated rules that monitor in real-time, market data as well as, technical indicators and macroeconomic data.

Additionally, you can access historical data to evaluate how your strategy would have performed over the given data. If you’re happy with the results, you can go one step further and test your strategy using real-time data, again without putting any money at risk. Once proven, the same strategies can be implemented using real money.

FXCM Crypto Products

9 Crypto trading products are available with FXCM, these include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar Lumens, Cardano, Doge and Polkadot. There is also the option of trading the Crypto10 index.

Automated Trading With A Crypto Exchange

Whatever level of trading experience you have, whether you’re a crypto veteran to crypto-assets or a beginner, the platforms have something for you. More experienced traders will like the diversification offered by allocating a portion of their money for automated trading strategies alongside other strategies.

The jargon and learning curve can be steep for beginners who want to get their feet wet and start trading in the cryptocurrency market. However, one of the attractions of trading bots is they don’t need any programming skills, and only a little trading knowledge is required to set them up.

How Does It Work?

All platforms follow slightly different steps to get the trader up and running. Generally, the trader needs to connect the platform to a cryptocurrency exchange like Swyftx, Binance, Coinbase, or Kraken. This process assumes you’ve already got an account with the exchange, and while you can still open an account with the platform without one, you won’t get the full trading experience.

Your chosen platform provides an indirect way of trading cryptos; you’ll still be able to trade directly on the exchange but doing it via the platform gives you a lot more functionality, including implementing bots. Via the platform, you’ll be able to trade the big crypto names such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin, and many other altcoins and stablecoins.

Usually, your funds are held at the exchange, not with the trading bot, and don’t forget, trades placed on the exchange will still incur trading fees, in addition to any costs the trading platform will charge.

If you’re not ready to pick an exchange or you’re not comfortable trading with real money, there will often be an option to create a paper trading bot. Like demo accounts with forex or CFD brokers, this allows you to test things out first without putting any real money at risk.

Some platforms also support manual trading, so you can use the platform to place trade orders rather than directly on the exchange. You might do this if you like some of the platform’s functionality or prefer its charting options to that provided by the exchange but since we’re focused on auto trading, let’s continue with that.

Once you’ve picked a crypto exchange and deposited AUD or USD or whichever is your preferred currency (assuming it’s accepted), you need to create a bot.

A bot needs a connection between your accounts at the exchange and the trading platform. It does this via an API which is a secure way of both accounts talking to each other. You’ll need to generate and copy private keys within your exchange account and paste them into your platform account. This process might sound more complicated than it is, but it ensures you’ll always have full control.

Once connected, the platform prompts you to add a strategy to the bot – without one, your bot won’t do any trading. The strategy can use technical indicators or chart patterns. If you’re unfamiliar with the terms or you’re in two minds as to which is better, some platforms provide free, in-depth educational resources.

Before implementing the bot live, with real money, you can backtest the strategy on historical data. Backtesting will tell you how your strategy would have performed had it been implemented. The process can involve a lot of trial and error, and a common mistake is to “curve-fit” the inputs to produce the desired outputs. Over tweaking the strategy can lead to one-off results that aren’t likely to be reproduced in live trading.

If the process sounds a little daunting, or perhaps you don’t know your dojis from your EMAs, most platforms allow you can copy the strategies of more experienced traders (in the same way social trading platform eToro works). Another option is to head to the platform’s marketplace and buy one of the off-the-shelf trading strategies sold by other traders and programmers.

View FXCM Review >>Visit FXCM >>

*Your capital is at risk ‘67% of retail CFD accounts lose money’

Best Crypto Automated Trading Platform (Use With A Crypto Exchange)

Let’s take a look at some of the trading platforms out there and what they offer.

Cryptohopper

Based in Amsterdam, Holland, and serving clients worldwide, including Australia, Cryptohopper is one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency trading bot platforms. Their core team includes computer engineers who also day trade, so they know their stuff. Cryptohopper says their trading platform allows traders to take the emotion out of trading, although all platforms could make the same claim.

You can open an account for free without a credit card, and although you’re encouraged to connect your exchange as soon as you open your account, some traders might hold off while they have a play with the platform. If you go ahead and decide to connect to exchange, fifteen are supported including, Binance, Coinbase Pro, and Kraken.

Cryptohopper operates a monthly subscription service model, so you need to choose between one of four plans: Pioneer (Free), Explorer ($19), Adventurer ($49), or Hero ($99). Cryptohopper reduces these monthly prices slightly if you commit to the year.

There’s a trial available which defaults to the free, Pioneer tier if you don’t subscribe. At this level, you get basic functionality, including manual trading, charts and technical indicators, access to the portfolio management dashboard, and trading stats. The facility to auto trade with a bot is only possible with the paid tiers, which also offer the ability to copy trade, backtest, add stop-losses and price target, and enter short trades.

Kucoin

KuCoin is both an automated trading platform and an exchange – it lets traders, buy, sell, and store a wide range of cryptocurrencies. As well as a mobile app, trading can be done via a web browser. Opening an account is free and like other platforms, Kucoin doesn’t have a minimum account size to trade – instead, the exchange you’ve connected to determines the minimum trade size. As well as bitcoin trading, there are over 70 other crypto assets for you to choose from. In addition, there’s margin trading and of course, the ability to automate your trading with trading bots.

CryptoTrader

One other company to be aware of is CryptoTrader. The website says that the current version of CryptoTrader is no longer supported due to bugs and there’s going to update released in the future. Going based on the original version, the update will also be a cloud-based platform so, no trading software to download.

Crypto CFD Trading Platforms VS Crypto Bots That Connect To Exchanges

If you are wondering if you are better to choose a CFD Broker and Trading Platform or Crypto Bot. There are some good arguments to consider a CFD Trading Platform.

Pros Of Using A CFD Trading Platform

Unlike buying and selling cryptos via an exchange, when trading CFDs there’s no asset to store so there’s no need to learn how to use hard or cold wallets. Another benefit of the lack of storage is that because there’s nothing to lock away, you don’t have to worry about losing access to your cryptos because you’ve forgotten the access codes to your cold wallet or a hacker from a far-off place breaking into your exchange.

There’s also a strong argument for CFDs over exchange trading on the basis of speed. While depositing and withdrawing money is pretty much the same, the speed and ease of opening and closing trades are in favour of CFDs, especially when the trader needs to transfer their cryptos from cold wallets before they can offload them.

Another factor to consider is the blockchain and the risk of negative slippage (the risk that the trader is filled at a worse price than they had anticipated). This can happen when there’s high volatility and significant trading volumes. Major exchanges have been known to see large delays in confirming fills, partially because of the time the blockchain took to confirm the transaction.

One of the most important considerations for Australian traders and something that might tip them towards CFDs is regulation. The ASIC has regulatory oversight for CFD trading in Australia which means that brokers can legally offer services to clients. With this oversight comes peace of mind for traders, something that many exchanges will find hard to match.

Additionally, regulatory rules mean that client funds must be segregated from the rest of the brokerage. Even if the brokerage becomes insolvent, client funds can’t be touched.

One of the big advantages of CFDs brokers is that trading platforms offer a greater range of tools and indicators compared to crypto exchanges. Charting functionality is often limited with exchanges but CFD traders can access a wide choice of charting tools allowing for superior technical analysis.

Don’t forget that while crypto exchanges will only offer, well, cryptos, CFD brokers offer the ability to trade across a large range of asset classes beyond cryptos including stocks and commodities. A big part of risk management is diversification – trading multiple asset classes, so it can make perfect sense to do this on the same platform.

Talking of risk management, CFD platforms offer tools like stop-loss orders and all ASIC brokers must provide negative balance protection. Given how volatile cryptos can be, especially if you’re trading with leverage, negative balance protection means you’ll never lose more money than you have in your account.

On the subject of leverage – yes, being able to maximise the money you have can be risky but used in the right way, leverage adds extra juice to your profitable trades. When it comes to cryptos Australian CFD brokers will offer leverage of up 20 times your capital – that’s not always the case with crypto exchanges.As well as leverage, CFD brokers usually offer very good customer service, often with a phone number for you to call or if you prefer, an online chat function. Quick access to support like this can be a lifesaver when you have an account or trading-related queries.

One final consideration and one where most CFD brokers excel is trader education. Both beginner and seasoned traders can benefit from Education Libraries that brokers include for free.

Markets.com – Top Broker With MT4 Expert Advisors

Markets.com is a CFD provider with clients across the globe, including the EU and UK. In Australia, the platform is owned by Finalto, a division of Playtech, a company listed on the FTSE 250 in London, UK. For clients outside of Australia, there’s a large selection of products, such as CFDs, spread betting, and physical share brokerage.

While Markets.com’s Australian clients are limited to only CFDs, they have a choice of 2,200 markets across cryptocurrencies and other asset classes such as forex and stocks.

Markets.com has a good range of options for crypto fans. The brokers offer a choice of 25 cryptocurrencies, including the big names Bitcoin, and Ethereum.

Like other CFD brokers, automated trading is available via both the MT4 and MT5 platforms but the choice is limited to the following:

• Litecoin
• Ethereum
• Dash
• RIPPLE
• BCHUSD

Australian retail traders have recently seen the amount of leverage they can access reduced, so for clients of Markets.com, this means 1:2 for crypto trades (1:5 for professional traders), but in some cases, such as Bitcoin, no leverage is available. Outside of cryptos, leverage increases to 1:5 for shares and 1:30 for forex trades. Spreads are on par with the most competitive in the industry, so for Bitcoin and Ethereum, it is 128.68 USD and 5 USD.

Pros Of Markets.com

• Leverage of up to 1:2 (retail), 1:5 (professional)
• 25 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin
• MT4 or MT5 – the same choice of crypto is available on both
• No need for a wallet
• Funding with credit card, NETELLER, Skrill, and FastBank Transfer

Worth a mention is the Marketsx. All clients of Markets.com get access to their proprietary trading platform. So if you plan to perform some trading manually, Marketsx, offers a wealth of useful features that are not available on MetaTrader 4. which includes features such as technical (charting) tools and sentiment and fundamental analysis. Many of these features are not found on other competing trading platforms.

Markets.com claims that Marketsx offers everything the trader needs to trade smarter – features offered are in addition to the Knowlege Centre, which includes in-depth analysis, news, and XRay, a tailored financial live-streaming service. There’s also a very user-friendly FAQ section that covers many of the common questions that traders might have.

What Are Social Trading And Copy Trading?

Copy-trading is the financial market’s version of social media; It allows novice traders to copy the trades placed by more experienced traders. Unlike mirror trading, where advanced traders share their trading strategy, the copier only sees the trades placed and not the system behind the trade. This part is hidden and instead, the trader blindly follows the trades placed by the more experienced trader.

Like EAs, copy trading frees the trader from spending hours scanning charts or researching trade ideas. The experienced trader is responsible for the whole trading process from analysis to execution. Copying a veteran trader with a solid track record can be attractive for beginner traders who might be nervous about putting a foot wrong in the volatile crypto markets.

Unlike copy-trading, social trading still places the ultimate trading decision with the trader – they can choose whether to buy or sell the instrument. With social trading, traders share their research process and ideas as well as their logic for buying and selling. From this, other traders can make trading decisions but ultimately, these traders retain ultimate control over their accounts and which trades are executed.

In our in-depth reviews, we’ve covered many brokers that offer copy trading and social trading but let’s recap on some of our favourites.

View Markets.com Review >>Visit Markets.com >>

*Your capital is at risk ‘67% of retail CFD accounts lose money’