OpenClaw Trading: Crypto, DeFi, and Polymarket Skills Explained (2026)

OpenClaw and Trading: What You Need to Know First

OpenClaw is not a trading bot by design. It is a general-purpose AI agent that you extend with skills. But the community has built some of the most comprehensive on-chain trading automation available in any open-source AI agent framework, making it a powerful option for crypto traders who want natural language control over their positions.

Trading with OpenClaw works the same way as any other task: you send a plain English message ("Check my Polymarket positions and close anything above 90% probability"), and the agent uses the installed trading skills to execute it. The AI model does the reasoning; the skill provides the tooling.

Polyclaw: The Polymarket Skill

The Polyclaw skill by Chainstack is the most established trading skill for OpenClaw. Polymarket is a prediction market platform where you bet cryptocurrency on the outcome of real-world events.

With Polyclaw installed, your OpenClaw agent can:

• Browse active prediction markets and filter by topic, category, or current probability
• Execute on-chain buy and sell orders
• Track your open positions and profit/loss
• Discover hedging opportunities across related markets
• Apply LLM-powered reasoning to analyze market sentiment and news before placing orders

Polyclaw runs on Polygon using CLOB (Central Limit Order Book) execution. You need a funded Polygon wallet with USDC to trade. Full setup instructions are in the official Chainstack documentation.

Install it:

clawhub install polyclaw

Or paste the GitHub URL directly into your OpenClaw chat to install without the CLI.

BankrBot: The Comprehensive Crypto Skill Library

The BankrBot skill library is the most complete crypto trading and DeFi collection for OpenClaw. It is split into focused skill modules covering every major on-chain activity:

Wallet and Portfolio

• Check token balances across multiple chains
• View live token prices
• Transfer crypto between wallets

DeFi Operations

• Add and remove liquidity from pools
• Stake and unstake tokens across protocols
• Monitor yield farming positions
• Trigger portfolio rebalancing on demand

Advanced Trading

• Open and manage leveraged trading positions
• Set up automated trading rules and triggers
• Sign and submit raw transactions

Token and NFT Management

• Launch new ERC-20 tokens
• Deploy and manage NFT collections
• Track existing holdings

Install the full library:

clawhub install bankrbot

Or install specific modules by pasting individual GitHub URLs from the BankrBot repository into your chat.

Real-World Trading Use Cases

The community has shared several practical workflows using these skills:

Sentiment-driven Polymarket trading: The agent monitors news feeds and social media, summarizes developments, and automatically evaluates or adjusts positions on related Polymarket markets based on the analysis.

On-chain research: The agent aggregates token activity, whale wallet movements, and on-chain metrics and produces fast summaries to support token evaluation before manual investment.

Rules-based portfolio rebalancing: You define conditions in plain language ("Move 20% of my ETH into USDC if ETH drops below a certain price"), and the agent monitors and executes the rule autonomously.

Automated Polymarket scanning: The agent runs on a schedule, identifies new markets matching your interest criteria, and summarizes them for your review in a morning digest.

Risks You Need to Understand

Autonomous on-chain trading with AI carries real risks that are distinct from manual trading:

LLM hallucination: The agent might misinterpret a command and execute the wrong trade. Always test with small amounts on a testnet or with minimal funding before scaling.

Prompt injection: If a skill reads external content (a news article, a web page, a social feed) and that content contains adversarial instructions, the agent could be manipulated into executing unintended actions. This is an open, industry-wide problem with no complete solution yet.

Smart contract risk: DeFi protocols can have vulnerabilities. The agent executes trades against whatever contracts the skill points to.

Market risk: Trading strategies lose money. The agent executes what you instruct; it does not guarantee profitable outcomes.

Start on a testnet. Fund live wallets only after you have verified the skill behavior is exactly what you expect.

Getting Started with OpenClaw Trading

1. Install OpenClaw if you have not already
2. Install a trading skill: clawhub install polyclaw or clawhub install bankrbot
3. Configure any required wallet connections or API keys as described in each skill's SKILL.md
4. Run a small test transaction to verify the skill behaves as expected
5. Gradually expand scope as you build confidence in the agent's execution

Frequently Asked Questions

Can OpenClaw run fully automated trading without my input?

Yes. OpenClaw supports scheduled and event-triggered automations. You can configure the agent to check markets or execute rules at set intervals with no manual input per cycle. That said, fully autonomous trading requires careful testing and carries real financial risk.

Which blockchain networks are supported?

It depends on the skill. Polyclaw uses Polygon. BankrBot skills support multiple EVM-compatible chains. Check each skill's documentation for the supported networks.

Do I need to share private keys with OpenClaw?

Yes, skills that sign transactions require access to a private key or wallet. Run OpenClaw only on hardware you fully control, keep encrypted backups, and never expose the gateway port to the internet without additional authentication.

Where can I find more trading skills?

Browse ClawHub filtered by "finance" or "trading", or check the awesome-openclaw-skills list for curated recommendations with install commands.

Is Polymarket trading legal where I live?

Prediction market regulations vary by jurisdiction. Research the rules in your country before trading on Polymarket. This is not legal or financial advice.