Huobi Enters AI Arms Race on March 12

Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi HTX officially launched HTX AI Skills on March 12, 2026, introducing an open protocol that allows artificial intelligence agents to execute spot and futures trades using natural language commands. The initiative is designed to enhance the platform's utility and attract traders seeking to deploy automated strategies without complex coding.

The announcement places Huobi directly in competition with rivals who made similar moves just days earlier. On March 10, BingX unveiled its AI Skills Hub as part of a stated $300 million commitment toward becoming an "AI-native" crypto exchange. The day before, on March 9, trading platform Walbi introduced its own no-code AI agents for retail users, signaling a rapid acceleration in the industry's push to integrate artificial intelligence.

Exchanges Vie for AI Users to Lower Trading Barriers

The strategic objective behind these launches is to lower the barrier to entry for sophisticated trading and capture a growing user base interested in automation. Platforms like BingX, which serves over 40 million users, and Walbi are moving beyond simple rule-based bots to offer systems that can process multiple data streams in real-time. Walbi's 14-week closed beta illustrates the potential demand, with over 1,000 participants creating 9,500 AI agents that executed 187,000 autonomous trades.

These AI-driven tools aim to provide a more contextual and responsive trading experience than traditional bots. By allowing users to define strategies in plain language, exchanges hope to make autonomous trading accessible to a much broader audience, from retail hobbyists to professional traders, thereby increasing platform engagement and trading volumes.

Institutional Investors View AI-Crypto Link With Caution

Despite the industry's enthusiasm, some institutional investors view the convergence of AI and cryptocurrency with skepticism. Tech investor Imran Khan, founder of Proem Asset Management, argues that the two sectors are driven by fundamentally different theses. "Crypto is a different animal," Khan stated, explaining that his firm invests in AI for its potential to drive productivity and economic growth, a framework where crypto assets rarely fit.

While Proem holds positions in crypto-related equities like Coinbase (COIN) and the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), Khan clarifies that these are part of a broader technology-sector focus, not a dedicated AI-crypto strategy. This cautious institutional stance provides a counterbalance to the product-driven hype, suggesting that the long-term value of integrating AI and crypto has yet to be proven for many professional asset managers.