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2023: A Year of Innovation at Hummingbot

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As we are assembling the roadmap for the new year, it's important to reflect on the strides Hummingbot has made from an engineering standpoint in 2023.

In the 2023 Technical Roadmap, we defined 4 key goals:

  1. Expand Top Exchange Connectors: Update connectors to latest standards, support market orders and lending/staking
  2. Optimize Hummingbot codebase: Streamline maintenance and move Gateway DEX connectors into a separate repo
  3. Expand Scripts Framework: Integrate indicators into the Scripts framework, add more examples, and make them configurable
  4. Support External Modules: Support community-built external modules like the Brokers orchestration repo

Let’s review each of these milestones versus the actual progress made in 2023:

State of the Foundation 2024

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As 2023 winds to a close, reported volumes from Hummingbot clients have reached an all-time high of $140M per day. Widespread usage of Hummingbot across 114 exchange venues spanning both official releases and unofficial forks shows that Hummingbot is becoming the industry standard for market maker connectivity.

Since it has been two eventful years have passed since the inception of the Hummingbot Foundation and the issuance of the HBOT token, we wanted to update the original Hummingbot Foundation whitepaper. Specifically, this post has three objectives:

  1. Provide a retrospective on the Foundation’s journey over the past two years,
  2. Propose changes to the Hummingbot governance system, and;
  3. Offer a preliminary HBOT allocation budget for 2024.

Hummingbot Docker Quickstart Guide

Introduction

This brief guide will introduce you to the process of installing and deploying Hummingbot using Docker. You will learn step-by-step how to set up Hummingbot using Docker Compose, a tool for defining and running multi-container Docker applications, and then run your first algo trading strategy!

What You Will Learn

  1. Install Docker: Step-by-step instructions to installing Docker and Docker Compose,

  2. Hummingbot Interface: Uncover the essentials of the Hummingbot interface, including layout and navigation.

  3. Running a Script: Learn how to run an algo trading strategy as a Hummingbot script.

  4. Connecting API Keys: Master the crucial process of integrating API keys with Hummingbot, ensuring secure API-based bot trading across various exchanges.

Introducing V2 Strategies

We are excited to formally introduce the V2 Strategy Framework! After months of testing by us and our community, we are confident that using this new framework to design and deploy strategies will improve your algo trading P&L!

V2 strategies bring unparalleled modularity, real-time adaptability, and backtesting capabilities to your trading arsenal, allowing you to design and deploy powerful, custom strategies with only a few tweaks to the template.

Revolutionizing Strategy Design with Modularity and Flexibility

V2 Strategies marks a departure from the more rigid structure of V1 strategies. It's crafted to enable users to create powerful, custom strategies, even those who may not have extensive Python programming experience.

Key Features:

  • Composable: The core of V2 strategies lies in their modularity, allowing users to create complex and customized trading strategies using simple modifications in the provided templates.
  • Real-Time: Leveraging real-time market data, V2 strategies dynamically adjust spreads and shift prices. This responsiveness to market changes optimizes profitability and minimizes risk, surpassing the capabilities of the static V1 strategies.
  • Backtestable: A crucial component of any trading strategy is the ability to test and refine it. V2 strategies excel in this aspect, offering comprehensive backtesting tools that enable detailed simulations with historical market data, accessible through the Dashboard.

Retrospective on the October 2023 Bot Battle

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October 2023 was a particularly notable month since it marked the official Bot Battle, an exclusive monthly bot trading competition for Botcamp members. With eyes set on the prize and minds focused on performance, we embarked on a journey that tested both our strategic prowess and our bots' capabilities.

Diving into the October Bot Battle

Commencing on October 27th and running through to October 30th, I, alongside my fellow active Botcamp members, took part in a vibrant competition designed to pit our automated trading strategies against one another. As per the rules, our arsenal included any Hummingbot strategy or script, with a starting capital of no more than 200 USDT and the mandate that no additional top-ups were allowed post-competition commencement.

Epoch 6 Polls Recap

Every quarter, Hummingbot Foundation organizes Polls, a quarterly process that lets HBOT holders vote on how the Foundation distributes its maintenance resources and bounty budgets across the 50+ CEX, DEX, and blockchain network connectors in the Hummingbot codebase.

This week, we completed the Epoch 6 polls which decide which connectors will be included in the Hummingbot codebase for the October, November, and December 2023 releases.

Read on to learn about which connectors made the cut!

⚔️ Beta Bot Battle Results and Roundup!

The Beta Bot Battle has concluded, and we're thrilled to present the outcomes to the broader Hummingbot community!

Over a 48-hour period in September, Hummingbot users competed to see whose bots could earn the most profits and trade the highest volume, starting with an 100 USDT initial balance on Binance.

This inaugural experiment was, in our view, a resounding success. Though the participation was limited due to it being the first edition, the energy and camaraderie displayed on the #competitions Discord channel were palpable. We celebrated numerous triumphs, empathized with the setbacks, and eagerly anticipated the insights from participant write-ups about effective strategies.

Let's delve into the results:

FAQ on HBOT and Hummingbot Governance

Ever since the birth of the Hummingbot ecosystem, we've strived to ensure a decentralized approach to governance and maintenance of the Hummingbot codebase. Let's take a brief journey through some key milestones:

  • Oct 2021: Launch of the Hummingbot Foundation
  • Jan 2022: Introduction of the HBOT Token
  • Dec 2022: Introduction of Polls for CEX and DEX Connector Voting
  • Sep 2023: Addition of Chain Connector Voting and Bounty Budgets

HBOT holders are now empowered to dictate how the Foundation distributes its maintenance resources and bounty budgets across the 50+ CEX, DEX, and chain connectors in the codebase. This post updates HBOT holders on how the governance system works.

⚔️ Join the Beta Bot Battle!

Hey there, bot runners! We're super excited to announce the first Bot Battle, a 48-hour trading competition for the Hummingbot community!

Whether you're a seasoned quant trader or just dipping your toes into the world of crypto bots, this competition is tailor-made for you! Compete with other bot-runners, see how your strategy stacks up, and win prizes!

This Beta Bot Battle is a test run for the monthly bot trading competitions that will be a major component of Botcamp starting in October. While the Botcamp competitions will be reserved exclusively for Botcamp members, we are opening up this beta competition to any Hummingbot user!

Proposed Epoch 6 Governance Changes

Since inception in early 2022, Hummingbot Foundation has continually improved and iterated on its governance system. Each quarterly Epoch has introduced voting format changes that are designed to align the choices and decisions that HBOT holders make with changes to the Hummingbot codebase that users want.

Since the end of the Epoch 5 polls, we have engaged in comprehensive internal discussions aimed at enhancing the governance process for the next epoch. Please see below for the proposed improvements. We cordially extend an invitation to our community to thoroughly examine these proposed changes below and provide feedback!