Bybit Market Maker C++

A compact C++17 reference market maker for Bybit linear perpetuals. It maintains passive quote ladders, fee-aware reduce-only take profits, optional mark-price stops, and hard net and gross exposure limits. Live mode fails closed when market data, account truth, or order state becomes uncertain.

Warning

This is experimental open-source software for engineering and educational use. It is not investment advice, has not been independently audited, and does not promise profitability. Live trading can lose money. Review the code, start in dry-run mode, and use credentials with the minimum required permissions.

Highlights

• Event-driven decisions from sequence-checked Bybit V5 order book and ticker streams.
• Exact-symbol REST bootstrap for instruments, fees, hedge positions, and active orders.
• Passive price rounding, fee-aware exits, inventory skew, and bounded quote mutation.
• Hard base-quantity and quote-notional caps that include positions, external orders, current quotes, and intended orders.
• Mark-price stop logic with a restart-lifetime kill latch and reduce-only market exits.
• Session-owned order reconciliation, legacy-order migration cleanup, bounded REST resync, and verified cancellation.
• Optional Bybit disconnect-cancel-all subscription only when the account reports derivative DCP as enabled.

Requirements

• CMake 3.20 or newer
• A C++17 compiler
• OpenSSL, libcurl, and zlib development packages
• A Bybit account and API credentials only for live mode

On Debian or Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential cmake pkg-config libssl-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev zlib1g-dev

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/SebastianBoehler/bybit_market_maker_cpp.git
cd bybit_market_maker_cpp
cp .env.example .env

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBYBIT_MM_NETWORK_TESTS=OFF
cmake --build build --parallel
ctest --test-dir build --build-config Release --output-on-failure

./build/market_maker_example

Dry-run mode is the default. It connects to public Bybit endpoints and computes plans, but it does not submit or cancel orders. A command-line symbol overrides BYBIT_SYMBOL:

./build/market_maker_example BTCUSDT
./build/market_maker_long_only SUIUSDT

Configuration

Copy .env.example to .env. The application loads .env without overwriting variables already present in the process environment.

Setting	Runtime default	Unit and meaning
BYBIT_SYMBOL	SUIUSDT	Exact linear-perpetual symbol; the first CLI argument overrides it
BYBIT_RUN_LIVE	0	0 plans only; 1 enables order mutations
BYBIT_SIDE_MODE	both	both or long_only
BYBIT_BUDGET_USD	10.0	Total quote-notional budget divided across opening ladder legs
BYBIT_MIN_SPREAD_BPS	0.2	Minimum full spread in basis points; 1 bp = 0.01%
BYBIT_SPREAD_FACTOR	1.0	Multiplier applied to the live spread; quotes never move inside the BBO
BYBIT_LADDER_LEVELS	3	Levels per enabled side; live mode allows at most 9
BYBIT_MAX_NET_QTY	100.0	Maximum net contract/base-asset quantity for linear perpetuals
BYBIT_GROSS_NOTIONAL_CAP	-1	Quote-notional cap; a positive value is mandatory in live mode
BYBIT_TP_SPREAD_BPS	0.5	Safety buffer beyond fee-aware break-even, in basis points
BYBIT_STOP_LOSS_BPS	-1	Mark-price distance from entry; negative disables it, enabled values must be below 10,000
BYBIT_API_KEY	empty	Required in live mode
BYBIT_API_SECRET	empty	Required in live mode
BYBIT_BASE_URL	https://api.bybit.com	REST endpoint; an explicit empty value is rejected
BYBIT_WS_PUBLIC_URL	Bybit linear public V5 URL	Required in every mode
BYBIT_WS_PRIVATE_URL	Bybit private V5 URL	Required in live mode

To enable live mutations, set BYBIT_RUN_LIVE=1, provide both credentials, and choose a positive BYBIT_GROSS_NOTIONAL_CAP. The application also requires hedge mode and configures it for the exact symbol before trading.

Safety model

Live startup establishes a complete REST snapshot, removes stale session and recognized legacy bot orders, and then starts authenticated private streams. A guarded second REST bootstrap prevents websocket events that arrive during startup from being overwritten.

The runtime quotes only while all required state is healthy:

• public order book state is connected, sequence-valid, and fresh;
• mark price is valid and uses a stricter freshness window than the book;
• private authentication and execution, position, and order subscriptions are ready;
• both hedge legs and the complete active-order set are known;
• any uncertain mutation is reconciled through bounded REST reads.

A stop breach suppresses quotes, cancels owned orders, and attempts reduce-only exits for every non-dust hedge leg. The kill state remains latched until restart. Disconnect-cancel-all is defense in depth only; local cancellation and confirmation remain authoritative.

Testing

The default CTest suite is deterministic and makes no exchange network calls:

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBYBIT_MM_NETWORK_TESTS=OFF
cmake --build build --parallel
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

Live REST and websocket smoke tests are built but not registered with CTest by default. Register them only when you intentionally want network access:

cmake -S . -B build-network -DBYBIT_MM_NETWORK_TESTS=ON
cmake --build build-network --parallel
ctest --test-dir build-network --output-on-failure

Network smoke tests depend on current Bybit availability and may require credentials. Passing unit tests does not prove exchange connectivity, account permissions, strategy profitability, or production readiness.

Architecture

Area	Main files	Responsibility
Configuration	app_config.*, main.cpp	Environment loading, validation, and process entry
Public market data	market_data_feed.*, market_state.*	Websocket lifecycle, topic integrity, sequence merging, and freshness
Private account data	private_session.*, private_state.*, private_position.cpp	Authentication, subscriptions, atomic position/order reduction, and PnL inputs
Strategy	strategy_plan.*, strategy_runtime.*	Pure order planning, risk exits, kill latch, and mutation cadence
Orders	order_reconciler.*, order_batch.*, account_state.*	Ownership classification, delta construction, batching, and REST parsing
Exchange adapter	trading_helper.*, bybit_response.*	Thin Bybit V5 REST calls and strict response validation

The pinned bybit-cpp-client dependency provides the REST and websocket transport layer. This repository owns market-making policy and account-state safety.

Limitations

• Linear perpetuals and hedge-mode position indices are the supported trading model.
• One process manages one configured symbol and does not persist strategy state across restarts.
• Websocket disconnects require a clean restart; automatic reconnect is intentionally disabled.
• DCP availability depends on the account and is not assumed when the capability response is empty or off.
• The strategy is a reference implementation, not a latency-optimized colocated engine, backtester, or audited risk system.

The exchange interface follows the Bybit V5 API documentation.

Versioning and license

The current project version is 0.1.0. Until 1.0.0, behavior and public interfaces may change between minor releases. Release tags use the vMAJOR.MINOR.PATCH form.

Licensed under the MIT License.