Development of Telegram Bot for Copy Trading
Copy trading — automatic repetition of another trader's or algorithm's trades. A Telegram bot for copy trading observes a "master" wallet, and when it makes a trade — immediately executes the same for all subscribers. Whole market segment: users without time/skills follow successful on-chain traders.
System Architecture
Monitoring Layer
Bot must detect master wallet transactions as fast as possible. Two approaches:
Mempool monitoring: subscribe to pending transactions in mempool. Detects transaction before confirmation, potentially including copy in same or next block. Requires access to private mempool via Alchemy, QuickNode or own Ethereum node.
Block monitoring: process confirmed transactions. Delay 1-13 seconds (block time), but guaranteed confirmed data. Simpler implementation.
For competitive copy trading — use mempool. For strategies not requiring speed — block monitoring sufficient.
WebSocket subscriptions:
// Mempool monitoring via Alchemy
const filter = {
address: masterWalletAddress,
topics: [/* swap event topics */]
};
provider.on(filter, (tx) => handleMasterTrade(tx));
Decode & Replicate
After detecting master transaction — understand what he did and reproduce:
Transaction decoding: decode calldata of transaction. If master called exactInputSingle on Uniswap V3 — extract parameters: tokenIn, tokenOut, amountIn, recipient.
Proportional sizing: user copies with coefficient. If master spent 10 ETH — copier with coefficient 0.1 spends 1 ETH. Or fixed amount regardless of master size.
Slippage adjustment: master set slippage 1%, copier with delay must set slightly higher slippage — price already moved.
Gas prioritization: copier must pay enough gas for transaction to land in next block. Priority fee = master's priority fee × 1.1 + buffer.
Managing Copier Pool
One master can have thousands of copiers. Massive simultaneous execution creates:
Gas wars: all copiers compete for block inclusion, gas fees rise. Last ones get significantly worse price.
Market impact: thousands of simultaneous swap transactions on one token create real market impact.
Solutions:
- Batching via smart contract: all copiers make one swap through proxy-contract which atomically distributes assets. One gas cost for all.
- Jitter: small random delay for each copier. Spreads transactions in time, reduces market impact.
- Size limits: maximum total copy volume. When exceeded — new subscribers not accepted for this master.
Master Selection and Analytics
User selects who to copy. Criteria:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Historical ROI | Returns over 30/90/180 days |
| Win rate | % of profitable trades |
| Max drawdown | Maximum drawdown |
| Trade frequency | Trades per day/week |
| Average holding time | Average time in position |
| Portfolio size | Traded amount |
On-chain transparency: all data verifiable on-chain. No ability to fake history. Analytics built on real blockchain data (via The Graph or direct RPC).
Risk scoring: automatic master risk-score. High win rate with high drawdown = aggressive. Moderate win rate with low drawdown = conservative.
Risks for Copiers
Latency slippage: by execution time price is worse. On popular masters — significant.
Rug pull: master sells token right after buying, knowing copiers will pump. Protection: pattern monitoring, blacklist known manipulators.
Network congestion: during high load copier transactions may not land in time.
Smart contract risk: if bot uses proxy-contract — risk of contract bug.
Developing Telegram copy trading bot with basic features — 2-3 months. With master analytics, batching and protections — 4-6 months.