GuidesMarket Maker Bot
Market making
Market Maker Bot
Quote both sides of the book for the gap between them, or pick Directional signal to trade the trend while capturing the spread.
How it works
Capture the spread. Position for the trend.
The bot places buy and sell limit orders around the market price, capturing the spread through completed round trips. In Directional mode, it adjusts its quotes to build a long or short position alongside that spread capture. When the market moves faster, the spread widens, placing orders further from the current price. A configured take-profit target closes the position when reached, and the bot waits 5 minutes before quoting again.
Strategy
Choose how the bot manages its position
Spread
Focus on capturing the spread while keeping your position near zero. The bot quotes both sides of the book and adjusts its orders to reduce the position it builds as orders fill.
- Designed for markets that move within a range.
- Makes orders that reduce your position more competitive, scales back new exposure near your limit, and stops adding at the cap.
- Can take a small directional position in response to market moves, with the target returning toward zero as the signal fades.
Directional, signal
Let market signals guide the direction. The bot uses recent price moves on major exchanges to adjust its quotes and build a limited long or short position while continuing to capture the spread.
- Automatically chooses the direction, with exposure bounded by the limit you set.
- Builds the position through resting limit orders. As the signal fades, its target returns toward zero and the bot works to reduce the position.
Directional, manual
Choose long or short and set your target exposure. The bot uses resting limit orders to build and maintain that position while continuing to quote both sides of the book.
- Designed for when you want to maintain exposure in a direction you choose.
- Aims for your chosen position instead of returning to zero as market signals fade.
- May reduce the target exposure when funding conditions make that side costly to hold.
Settings
Which settings each strategy actually uses
| Setting | Spread | Directional, signal | Directional, manual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order size, max position, stop loss | Used | Used | Used |
| Minimum edge, spread | Used | Used | Used |
| Take profit | Not offered | Used | Used |
| Bias (long or short) | Not offered | Ignored | Used |
| Target exposure | Not offered | Ignored | Used |
| Lean ceiling | Used | Used | Ignored |
| Drift skew, book and flow weights | Aims the orders | Aims the orders and the lean | Aims the orders only |
Setup
Configure your orders and risk limits
Order size
The base value of each buy and sell order, in dollars. The bot adjusts actual order sizes as your position changes, reducing orders that would add exposure near your position limit.
Max position
Your position limit in dollars, in either direction. As the position approaches this limit, the bot reduces orders that would increase it. At the limit, it quotes only the side that reduces your exposure.
Minimum edge
The minimum pricing estimate used to calculate your spread, measured in basis points (1 bp = 0.01%). The bot can use a higher estimate based on recent fills and market volatility, with an additional allowance for the cost of reducing positions.
Spread
A multiplier applied to the bot’s estimated trading costs. At 1×, it uses that estimate without an extra buffer. Higher values widen the quotes, generally reducing fills while seeking more spread per trade. Actual quotes also adjust to market conditions and your position.
Stop loss
Closes the position when its loss from price movement and tracked funding reaches your chosen percentage. Once the position is closed, the bot pauses for 5 minutes before resuming automatically. The percentage measures position return, not leveraged return on your margin.
Worked example
Example market maker setup
This setup quotes with a 50% buffer above the bot’s estimated trading costs. Actual quote widths also adjust to volatility and the current position. The buffer provides room for estimation errors, but does not guarantee profitable fills.
Walkthrough
Step-by-step creation flow
- Go to Market Maker Bots and select Create Bot. It needs an Arcus or Aster account with more than $200 in it.
- Choose the Market you want to quote on. Start with a liquid one.
- Choose a Strategy. Spread works back to flat; Directional with Signal leans with the market's move and unwinds when it stops.
- Set Order size and Max position. The cap is your real risk limit, so set it to a number you would be comfortable holding.
- Set the Minimum edge, the Spread and the Stop loss, then start the bot.
Safety
How the bot manages trading risk
Resting orders for entries
Positions open through post-only limit orders. The bot can cross the spread to reduce exposure, stop loss, or take profit.
Wider quotes in volatile markets
Rising volatility can widen the base spread up to 4×, depending on your settings.
Prices checked across exchanges
Quotes use a reference price from other exchanges. Quoting pauses if reference data is stale or inconsistent, or the venue price deviates too far.
Risks & safety notes
Before you deploy
- Gains from completed trades can be outweighed by losses on an open position. Max position and stop loss help manage this risk, but do not guarantee a limit on losses.
- Once a stop loss or take profit closes the position, the bot pauses for 5 minutes before resuming automatically. Continued market moves can trigger repeated stop losses. Stop the bot if you do not want it to open another position.
- Tighter quotes may fill more often, but leave less room to cover trading costs and adverse price moves. Higher trading activity does not guarantee higher profit.
- Avoid running multiple bots on the same market in the same account. Their orders can compete and affect the same position.
- Open positions can incur or receive funding payments. Include these payments when assessing the bot's overall return.
Own a token?
This bot quotes a perp market on Arcus or Aster only. If you want a healthy market made in your own token instead, Market Maker Pro is the Coinner service for that: automated liquidity, depth and real volume across 100+ centralized and decentralized exchanges, on trade-only keys, with no token loan and no six-figure retainer.
Ready to run a Market Maker Bot?
Quote both sides, stay flat or lean with the trend, and let it run its own inventory 24/7.