Automated trading bots—especially spot grid bots—have become a cornerstone of retail and semi‑professional crypto trading. However, exchanges periodically reassess which trading pairs support bot services. This update explores a recent notice from Binance removing bot services from a suite of spot‑trading pairs, the rationale, implications, and actionable takeaways for traders.
On September 22, 2023, Binance issued a formal announcement: as of September 29, 2023 at 02:00 UTC, Spot Trading Bots services would be removed from a wide range of spot pairs (e.g. AAVE/BNB, ALPACA/BTC, SAND/BNB, ZRX/BTC, and many others) (Binance). Shortly before that, on August 24, 2023, another batch of trading bot services was discontinued across additional pairs (e.g. API3/BTC, BEL/BTC, PLA/BTC, WING/BTC, EOS/BNB, NEAR/ETH, among others), effective August 31, 2023 at 10:00 UTC (Binance).
Under the newest delisting policy in March 2025, Binance also removed bots for spot pairs like ALICE/BTC, ETHFI/BTC, MBOX/BTC, RSR/FDUSD and TURBO/FDUSD as part of broader spot‑pair cleanup on March 21, 2025 at 03:00 UTC (Binance).
Many affected pairs had minimal trading volume and shallow depth, making them prone to erratic bot behavior, failed executions, or large price slippage. Bots operating on these can inadvertently amplify volatility or face frequent order failures.
Binance explicitly emphasized the need to promote cleaner price discovery and limit algorithmic distortion—bots can artificially boost perceived activity or enable manipulative patterns that disadvantage manual traders (arbicryptos.com).
Maintaining bot infrastructures for low‑usage pairs imposes operational costs without material benefit. By paring back pair coverage, exchanges streamline maintenance, focus support, and upgrade bot features for higher‑utility tradable pairs.
At the removal time, Binance canceled any pending grid orders on the delisted spot pairs and returned assets back to users’ spot wallets. This process was handled automatically—no manual action required for failed trades—but open bot orders ceased.
Post‑cutoff, users could no longer create new bots for affected pairs. Bots already linked to these pairs were effectively disabled and could not be relaunched or modified.
Bots associated with delisted pairs were also removed from Recommended sections of bot copy‑trading pages. Even if a bot was published previously, it could no longer be promoted internally.
Binance urged users to manually terminate active bots before cutoff to avoid unexpected execution failures or inactivity. Failing to do so could result in stranded positions or inability to trade until manual cleanup (Binance, Bitget, bitgetapps.com).
Date (UTC) | Event | Example of Affected Pairs |
---|---|---|
Aug 31, 2023 10:00 | Removal of bot services for first batch | API3/BTC, BEL/BTC, PLA/BTC… |
Sep 29, 2023 02:00 | Major delisting of many pairs | AAVE/BNB, ALGO/ETH, SAND/BNB… |
Mar 21, 2025 03:00 | Final cleanup wave removes bots on select pairs | ALICE/BTC, MBOX/BTC, RSR/FDUSD… |
Traders operating multi‑pair bots (like grid, dollar‑cost average bots) had to reconfigure strategies, removing unsupported pairs or manually allocating capital to viable alternatives. Even pre‑built API scripts needed modification to avoid failed trades.
From platforms like 3Commas and KuCoin, users have expressed frustration over sudden bot closures—especially when exchanges failed to provide warning or smooth exit options (Binance, arbicryptos.com, Binance, Binance, Reddit, Reddit, Binance, Reddit). These cases highlight the importance of transparent notifications and clear exit tools for automated trading users.
For manual traders, this reduction simplified pair complexity—but bot traders lost some convenience. Exchanges targeted to strengthen execution reliability and reduce silent errors, at the expense of automated flexibility for low-volume coins.
Monitor Official Announcements: Always follow exchange support pages or announcement channels. Notices often precede removal by 5‑7 days.
Cancel Active Bots in Advance: Terminate bots linked to soon‑to‑be‑delisted pairs before the official cutoff. Don’t wait until the last minute.
Withdraw Funds Promptly: After cancellations, withdraw profits or remaining assets from spot wallets to avoid confusion.
Reallocate to Fully Supported Pairs: Focus automation on pairs with sufficient liquidity and execution performance.
Review API Triggers & Safety Checks: If using custom API bots, include logic to avoid operating on pairs that may become unsupported.
Track Copy‑Trading Status: If you run or follow recommended bots, confirm whether exchange promotions or recommendations still include your selected pairs.
While this blog focuses on Binance, similar practices are emerging at other exchanges:
Bitget removed spot‑bot support for specific tokens such as PLA/USDT (on February 26, 2025), and batches like PDAUSDT, VIBUSDT, WINGUSDT, MUBIUSDT in May 2025—each cancellation included auto‑asset return and user warnings (Bitget).
Platforms like Vinancee and Arbicryptos cited similar motivations—market unsuitability, low liquidity, or manipulation risk—as rationale behind removing automated bot access on select pairs (arbicryptos.com).
Liquidity and bot activity are less relevant: manual execution remains unaffected—only bot-based automation is disabled.
Be proactive—review your deployment list weekly, especially ahead of known maintenance/delist windows.
Consider centralizing bot strategies around major trading pairs (e.g. BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT) with strong volume and deep orderbooks.
If you're building bots that integrate with centralized exchanges, incorporate real‑time delisting checks, automated warnings, and fallback logic.
Provide clear messaging around delisted pairs—including asset return behavior and order cancellation rules.
What changed? Binance and other platforms removed spot bot services from numerous low‑volume trading pairs in late 2023 and into 2025.
Why? To maintain market integrity, prevent bot‑induced volatility, lower maintenance complexity, and better protect users.
How? Auto cancellation of grid orders, return of assets to wallets, cessation of future bot runs on affected pairs.
Traders’ actions? Cancel bots early, review API use, withdraw assets, and adjust strategies to support only well‑liquid pairs.
The removal of trading bot services on select spot pairs marks a notable shift in exchange strategy toward cleaner, more robust automated trading environments. Though it disrupts “set‑and‑forget” automation for participants relying on obscure altcoin pairs, the tradeoff looks to favor execution reliability, fairness, and simplified infrastructure management.
As an automated trader, your edge lies not just in deploying bots—but deploying them smartly, across well‑supported pairs, with alert systems and fallbacks. Keep trading agile, informed, and aligned with exchange policies. Your strategies should adapt quickly—but never blindly.