Working in the IT/Systems Trading space, I can assure you it is...

Working in the IT/Systems Trading space, I can assure you it is not all as sinister as you may think.

Often brokers use algos ('bots') simply to remove themselves from what is a troublesome manual process and do something more productive. They also offer a range of algos to their clients.

If for example, you want to buy/sell 100,000 YTC you'd probably want to consider using a VWAP algo so as not to directly impact the price (currently the top levels of depth are all less than 100,000). A VWAP algo slices an order up into tiny lots and dripfeeds it into the market over the course of the day (or defined time interval), with the goal of transacting the aggregate for the average weighted price of the day. It is all very scientific; based on the last x days trading history etc... and certainly not dishonest.

Other algo activity may be explained away as similarly non-sinister objectives.

Areo