Decoding Binance Research's Telegram Bots Report: An Alternative Trading Experience on Mobile
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Decoding Binance Research's Telegram Bots Report: An Alternative Trading Experience on Mobile
What is the business model of robot trading, how will the entire sector develop in the future, and what potential risks might exist?
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Jie Xuan Chua, Binance Research
Compilation: TechFlow
Recently, various Bot-related tokens on Telegram have drawn significant attention due to their astonishing price surges. Although prices have since pulled back, the emerging narrative remains worth watching amid its early volatility.
Binance Research has released a report on Telegram bots, revealing that cumulative trading volume via these bots has exceeded 190 million USD, with daily peak volume reaching 10 million USD.
How do bot-based trading models work? What is the future outlook for this sector, and what potential risks exist?
TechFlow has compiled and interpreted the report—below are the key takeaways.
Key Takeaways:
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Telegram bots enable users to participate in crypto activities through mobile devices in a more user-friendly manner by offering features such as trading and airdrop sniping.
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Cumulative trading volume of Telegram bots has surpassed 190 million USD, with single-day volume peaking at 10 million USD.
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Telegram bots generate revenue through transaction fees and taxes levied on token buys/sells, with total income exceeding 28.7 million USD.
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It's currently difficult to assess real underlying demand—the recent surge being largely driven by token price increases. However, short-term growth in this space is expected to continue.
Typical Transaction Flow of Telegram Bots
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Users input commands within the Telegram bot’s channel, prompting the bot to generate a main menu.
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Users can either create a new wallet or connect an existing one via the menu, then fund it using the provided address.
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They can then execute various types of transactions, such as buying/selling tokens, airdrop sniping, copy trading, etc.
Evaluation:
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Compared to existing DeFi front-ends, Telegram bots offer a more accessible and user-friendly experience, especially for beginners.
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With 800 million monthly active users, Telegram represents a vast pool of potential users who may be crypto-curious but not yet fully engaged—making it a promising platform.
Common Features and Comparisons Among Telegram Bots
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Trading: Users can directly buy and sell tokens via Telegram.
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Sniping: Automatically purchase newly launched tokens upon release.
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Copy Trading: Mimic trades executed by other traders.
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Airdrop Farming: Automatically perform a series of actions to increase chances of qualifying for airdrops.
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Other Features: Such as analytics or wallet tracking.
Comparison of typical bot offerings shows trade-offs primarily within the above feature set.
Evaluation:
Doesn't this resemble how you used to rely on multiple apps—e-commerce on App A, finance on App B, lifestyle services on App C—while now everything is consolidated into one app like WeChat?
Massive traffic access combined with functional integration—although still in early stages—represents a clear departure from most DeFi applications by aiming to become a “one-stop” solution within a large user ecosystem.
Sector-Wide Analysis
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Total Potential: Telegram reportedly has over 800 million monthly active users, now enabling them to engage in crypto activities via mobile devices in a new way.
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Market Cap and Project Landscape:
At the time of writing, market capitalization of bot-related tokens exceeds 150 million USD, with many tokens multiplying several-fold in value over short periods.
UNIBOT token is the key contributor, accounting for over 77% of market share. Using Unibot as a proxy, Google search interest has also steadily increased.
Evaluation:
Following typical user psychology and attention patterns, price increases usually precede search behavior. Thus, rising prices drive more searches—but actual users actively transacting via bots likely represent only a small proportion.
While precise churn rate analysis isn’t provided in Binance’s report, we can interpret this as a normal lifecycle of a new narrative: initial niche interest → price surge → mass search interest → price correction.
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User Adoption:
User metrics hit record highs in July, with daily users surpassing 6,000.
Maestro remains the leader, with approximately 2,000–3,000 daily active users. Unibot is catching up rapidly, significantly narrowing the gap in recent weeks—its daily active users surged from around 400 to a peak of 1,700 within two weeks in July.
Daily trading volume on bots reached an all-time high of over 10 million USD. Cumulative trading volume across their entire lifecycle has also exceeded 190 million USD. Note: Actual figures may be higher, as not all data is immediately available.
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Token Impact:
Token trading activity can significantly influence community engagement, especially for emerging narratives.
Rising token prices and volumes attract attention and discussion, which in turn further fuels momentum.
Although still elevated, we have observed a slowdown in trading volume of these native bot tokens over the past few days, coinciding with an overall decline in both bot users and number of bots.
Evaluation: Speculation is the primary driver. Whether this narrative has ended or will see another speculative wave remains uncertain.
Revenue Models of Bot Projects
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Transaction volume and tax rates jointly determine bot project revenues:
1. Users initiate trading via the bot;
2. The protocol earns transaction fees;
3. Users buy/sell the bot-related token;
4. The protocol imposes taxes on such token transactions.
For example, Unibot has collected a total of 4.3K ETH (approximately 8 million USD), about 86% of which came from buy/sell taxes rather than direct trading fees.
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Telegram bots have collectively generated over 15,000 ETH (approximately 28.7 million USD) in revenue from年初 to July
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Maestro leads in cumulative revenue, with Unibot ranking second, though Maestro's earnings exceed Unibot's by more than double
Additionally, Maestro’s relatively high daily active user count of around 2,000–3,000 enables consistent transaction fee revenue.
This revenue comes from Maestro charging a 1% fee on every successful buy or sell order routed through its application.
Outlook and Risks
Current and potential development directions:
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Expansion to Other Platforms: Many bots have already expanded beyond Telegram to platforms like Discord, broadening user reach and offering additional venues for executing trades.
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Product Diversification: While some bots may focus on niche areas (e.g., sniping), we expect more bots to develop broader functionality, positioning themselves as one-stop shops where users can conduct diverse transactions within a single interface.
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Cross-chain Expansion: We’ve already seen bots expanding beyond Ethereum to support multiple blockchains, enabling seamless cross-chain trading for users.
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Price Competition: Most Telegram bots currently charge relatively high fees. As the industry matures and product differentiation diminishes among established players, lower fees could become a key tool for attracting users.
Potential Risks
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Asset Security: Bots vary in setup but typically allow users to create dedicated wallets or connect existing ones. In both cases, bots gain access to private keys, introducing potential security risks.
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Smart Contract Risk: Given how bots operate, interaction with smart contracts is unavoidable. While audits may not be comprehensive, projects with rigorous auditing processes give developers better ability to identify and fix critical vulnerabilities.
User Recommendations:
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Conduct smaller-scale transactions;
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Keep minimal funds in connected wallets;
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Create a new wallet specifically for interacting with bots, rather than using your primary wallet.
Conclusion
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It should be emphasized that a significant portion of certain bots’ revenue may come from taxes on token sales or purchases, rather than direct transaction fees.
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At this stage, it is too early to determine whether Telegram bots can sustain long-term user interest.
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