As one of the hot trends in the current year, how is the TG Trading Bot space performing now, compared to two and a half months ago? Today, Dr. DODO will take us on a journey to explore the changes in this space since the publication of Binance Research's report on August 17th. How have the leaders of the field, Maestro, Unibot, and Banana Gun, evolved in their respective developments?

Comparing Data Trends

In terms of overall data for the entire trading bot sector, compared to the data from the summer, there has been a noticeable decline. Trading volume has dropped from its peak of nearly $30 million in daily trading volume to around $10 million currently. The number of transactions (Tx) has also decreased from a daily high of 80,000 to 40,000. However, the number of users has seen the least decline, with an average of around 10,000 users per day.

Continuing to look at the market landscape of TG Trading Bots, Maestro still holds the top position with over half of the user base. Banana Gun has been steadily growing, and its data has shown significant improvement since its token launch. In early September, it successfully surpassed Unibot to claim the second position, currently representing approximately 35% of the user base. Unibot, on the other hand, has seen a continuous decline in data, with the number of users dropping below 10% after reaching an all-time high in token price.

Maestro, with its long-standing community support, continues to be the leader in this space. However, its dominance, which was once close to 70% market share, has gradually declined and is now approaching 50%.

Banana Gun initially attracted many new users with the expectation of airdrops. It has solidified its user base with high-quality MEV Bribe Snipe token sniping functionality and a lower service fee of 0.4% compared to other competitors. The product has been continuously updated, with the recent introduction of limit orders with bribe functionality receiving positive reviews. Banana Gun excels in the MEV Bribe token sniping feature, with data showing that in the past ten days, Banana Gun users have bribed MEV Builders with over 1700E, significantly higher than Maestro's 65E. Unibot, on the other hand, has not yet implemented this feature.

Compared to the first two, Unibot has made few improvements in its product. As the token price dropped, its advertising effect diminished as well. The addition of FriendTech Bot to expand its offerings has not been successful, with an average daily user count of fewer than 10. It appears that the project prioritizes token speculation over its core product, especially considering its lagging technology in its primary business.

Security

While projects in the TG Trading Bot space have never touted security as a strong point, given their target audience of high-risk traders, recent hacking incidents have had significant impacts.

On October 24th, Maestro updated its routing contract. However, due to a smart contract code vulnerability, this contract was exploited by hackers, resulting in losses exceeding 280 ETH for users. Subsequently, the Maestro team showed a high level of sincerity by reimbursing nearly 610 ETH after fixing the vulnerability, earning praise from the community.

Less than a week later, on October 31st, Unibot also fell victim to a code vulnerability in its updated routing contract, leading to a hacker attack and user losses of around 355 ETH. The Unibot token ($Unibot) also plummeted by 50%. Unibot claims to have fully compensated users for their losses, and the token price has since rebounded to pre-incident levels.

TG Trading Bot projects have always prioritized convenience over security. Users should exercise caution and be aware of the risks when using such applications, focusing on small investments, as the saying goes, "Not your keys, not your money."

Rising Stars

While the top three projects currently dominate nearly 90% of the TG Trading Bot market, there are still several up-and-coming projects actively challenging them, some of which have well-known backgrounds.

PepeBoost: Pepeboost primarily targets the Chinese community and has attracted many users through community-led trading. Currently, it holds the fourth position in market share rankings. The project claims that its copy trading feature surpasses that of Maestro.

Shuriken: Shuriken stands out with its web-based Dapp, offering users many convenient features such as monitoring smart addresses or popular tokens. It has introduced a badge system to attract many airdrop hunters.

Alfred: Alfred is one of the most mentioned TG Bot projects at the moment, not because of any outstanding features but due to its remarkable background. The Alfred team is founded by Stephane Gosselin, a co-founder of Flashbots. Given the recent hacking incidents in several TG Bot projects, there is growing concern about security. Alfred's real-name and highly acclaimed background have garnered significant attention. It has also introduced a reward system, attracting many airdrop hunters to use it.

Author's Perspective

The TG BOT sector has always been a focus of interest for me. In my view, creating user-friendly applications is an inevitable process for the mass adoption of blockchain. Although I've observed a significant decrease in data compared to when the sector was at its peak, it still appears quite healthy. The decline in data is likely related to market trends. The overall market recovery has led to higher on-chain gas fees, and the meme coin hype, which was prevalent at the time, has faded. Many on-chain Degen users have shifted their focus to BTC-related applications. Regarding the TG BOT sector, not only are the leading projects continuously updating, but there are also several new projects joining. Some of these projects even have the involvement of the founder of Flashbots, indicating that not only Degen users but also reputable developers are paying active attention to this space.