Phemex rolls out AI Bot to automate grid, Martingale and futures strategies for 10 million users
Cryptocurrency exchange Phemex has unveiled an AI-powered trading bot designed to automate several popular quantitative strategies, marking a concrete step in its shift toward becoming an AI-integrated trading platform. The new Phemex AI Bot, launched in February 2026, brings automated grid, Martingale, and futures-based systems to the exchange’s global user base of more than 10 million traders.
The company positions the AI Bot as a flagship implementation of its broader AI-Native Initiative announced earlier in 2024. That strategy set out a roadmap to weave artificial intelligence into both the technical infrastructure and the user-facing products of the exchange. With the bot now live, Phemex is moving from conceptual planning to a production-level deployment where AI systems play an active role in trade execution and risk control.
According to Phemex, the AI Bot applies machine learning models to real-time market data, scanning a wide array of signals and price movements to identify suitable entries and exits for different strategies. Instead of requiring traders to manually configure every grid level or tweak parameters for each market condition, the system can automatically propose and execute settings, while continuously adjusting them as volatility and liquidity change.
The automated strategies currently supported span three core categories: Futures Grid, Spot Grid, and Martingale. Futures Grid allows users to deploy grid trading on leveraged derivative contracts, enabling them to capture price fluctuations within a defined range while using margin to enhance exposure. Spot Grid operates a similar approach in the spot market, placing staggered buy and sell orders at predefined price intervals to profit from sideways or oscillating markets. The Martingale mode, meanwhile, systematically scales position sizes after losses according to a predefined formula, aiming to recover drawdowns when the market eventually reverses.
Risk management sits at the center of the AI Bot’s design. Phemex states that the system dynamically adjusts leverage, position sizes, and strategy parameters based on historical and current volatility metrics. In highly turbulent markets, for instance, the bot can scale back leverage or widen grid spacing to reduce the likelihood of forced liquidations or rapid drawdowns. Conversely, in calmer conditions, it may tighten grids or increase exposure within user-defined risk thresholds to seek higher returns.
To encourage adoption, Phemex has launched an “AI Bot Carnival,” a promotional campaign that combines user acquisition incentives with risk-offset features. New participants can access a loss protection mechanism for their initial bot strategies, helping to cushion early trading mistakes as they learn the system. The campaign also introduces volume-based rewards for high-activity traders, along with additional incentives for users who run multiple bots simultaneously across different pairs and strategies.
Federico Variola, CEO of Phemex, framed the AI Bot as proof that the company’s AI strategy is already operating at scale rather than being limited to experimental tools. He emphasized that AI is being embedded directly into the core functioning of products rather than deployed as cosmetic add-ons. This positioning indicates that Phemex is betting heavily on intelligent automation as a long-term differentiator in a crowded exchange landscape.
Founded in 2019, Phemex has built its business around a mix of spot and derivatives markets, copy trading, and yield-focused wealth management products. Over the years, it has accumulated over 10 million users across both retail and professional segments. The introduction of an AI-native trading infrastructure is intended to deepen engagement with existing clients while attracting a new demographic of traders who prefer rule-based or algorithmic strategies over manual chart analysis.
What the AI Bot changes for everyday traders
For many retail traders, advanced strategies like futures grid or Martingale have historically required a mix of technical knowledge and constant monitoring. Manual configuration of grid levels, position sizing, and risk parameters can be time-consuming and error-prone, especially during volatile market phases when decisions must be made in seconds. By offloading much of this work to an AI-driven system, Phemex aims to lower the barrier of entry.
Instead of designing a strategy from scratch, users can select from predefined templates or allow the bot to recommend setups based on market conditions. The AI layer can help determine optimal grid spacing, target profit per order, stop-loss zones, and leverage ranges, then continuously refine them in response to shifting volatility. This may make complex strategies more approachable for intermediate traders who understand the concepts but lack the time or tools to manage them manually.
Balancing automation with user control
Despite its high degree of automation, the bot is not positioned as a fully autonomous “black box.” Phemex indicates that traders still retain control over key parameters, such as maximum leverage, overall capital allocation, and acceptable drawdown limits. Users can pause or stop bots at any time, adjust configurations, or run several strategies in parallel across different markets.
This hybrid model of human oversight plus AI execution is particularly important in crypto, where market conditions can change abruptly in response to macro news, regulatory updates, or unexpected liquidity events. While machine learning can respond quickly to data, traders often want the final say when risk appetite changes or when a broader portfolio adjustment is needed.
Why AI is gaining traction in crypto trading
The launch of the Phemex AI Bot reflects a broader trend: as digital asset markets trade 24/7 and react to global information streams, manual trading is increasingly difficult to sustain at scale. Traders are looking for “always-on” systems that can respond in real time while applying consistent rules.
AI and machine learning systems are particularly suited to:
– Processing high-frequency tick data and order book changes
– Detecting patterns and micro-trends that may be invisible to the naked eye
– Adapting strategy parameters to different volatility regimes
– Running multiple strategies simultaneously without fatigue or emotional bias
For exchanges, offering such tools in-house can deepen user stickiness. Rather than forcing traders to rely on third-party bots or external APIs, a native AI bot within the exchange can streamline execution, reduce latency, and standardize risk controls.
The specifics of grid, Martingale and futures automation
Grid trading is inherently mechanical: it involves placing buy and sell orders at systematic intervals above and below a reference price. The challenge lies in choosing grid size, range, and order count that match market structure. AI can help by:
– Backtesting grid settings on historical data to estimate performance
– Adjusting the grid range dynamically when the market trends strongly
– Identifying when markets transition from trending to ranging conditions
Martingale strategies, on the other hand, are more controversial because they deliberately increase position size after losses. This can accelerate the recovery of small drawdowns but also magnify risk if the market continues to move against the position. An AI-enabled Martingale system can apply constraints such as maximum number of steps, capital caps, and volatility-based position throttling, which are designed to prevent runaway losses.
In futures trading, where leverage amplifies both profits and losses, AI-driven risk controls become even more critical. The Phemex AI Bot’s ability to monitor margin usage, unrealized PnL, and funding rate dynamics in real time can help it scale exposure up or down before positions become unstable. For example, during a rapid spike in volatility, the bot might temporarily reduce leverage or close part of a position to keep the account within defined risk bounds.
Potential benefits and risks for users
For users, the key potential advantages of adopting the Phemex AI Bot include:
– Time savings: less manual chart-watching and order placement
– Reduced emotional bias: rules-based decisions driven by data
– Accessibility: complex strategies packaged into more user-friendly flows
– Consistency: round-the-clock strategy execution without fatigue
However, automation does not eliminate risk. Market conditions can change in ways that break historical patterns, and even sophisticated machine learning models can misread or overfit data. Strategies like Martingale inherently involve elevated risk, and leverage in futures trading can rapidly magnify both gains and losses. Phemex’s inclusion of loss protection for new users during the promotional period underscores that risk is still present, even with AI assistance.
Users are therefore encouraged to:
– Start with smaller allocations while learning how the bot behaves
– Understand the mechanics of each strategy type before activating it
– Set conservative leverage and clear maximum drawdown thresholds
– Monitor performance and be prepared to intervene if market conditions change sharply
How this move fits into Phemex’s long-term vision
By embedding AI into core trading functions, Phemex is signaling an ambition to evolve from a traditional exchange into a smart, semi-autonomous trading environment. Over time, the AI-Native Initiative could extend beyond bots to include smarter order routing, predictive risk monitoring, more nuanced liquidation systems, and personalized product recommendations based on users’ trading behavior and risk profiles.
In a competitive field where many exchanges offer similar lists of coins and standard derivatives, differentiation will increasingly depend on the quality of tools, automation, and user experience. If Phemex’s AI Bot can deliver robust performance, intuitive controls, and credible risk management, it may become a major pillar of the platform’s offering and a template for how other exchanges design their own AI-native ecosystems.
As of February 2026, the launch of the Phemex AI Bot marks an inflection point: AI is no longer presented by the exchange as a conceptual future, but as an operational engine behind grid, Martingale, and futures strategies already in use by millions of traders worldwide.