Quantitative investment proudly enters the "lobster era": Spending a million yuan to "raise" a "lobster"?

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In the spring of 2026, while people were still debating whether OpenClaw (an AI agent commonly referred to as the "lobster") was a "super assistant" or a "Pandora’s box," an even more absurd "lobster raising business" was quietly exploding in the corners of the quantitative investment industry.

On a well-known domestic second-hand trading platform, all kinds of installation and deployment services for AI agents began to surge.

Everything is available—from entry-level "lobster raising tutorials" costing just a few yuan, to "top-level strategy deployment services" asking for millions.

And next to a bunch of expensive but ambiguously described "lobster guidance schemes," there seemed to also be some highly confident, high-priced targeted service projects waiting in the market for someone willing to bite.

Obviously, this world of "lobster" services is getting deeper and deeper.

“Million-Price Tag”

On the famous second-hand trading platform "Fish," We typed in the keyword "OpenClaw deployment" and immediately saw a series of priced "service links."

On the shelves, we saw "entry experience" priced at 0.01 yuan, and basic tutorials at 9.99 yuan and 78 yuan.

These look like ordinary tech sharing, with affordable prices—like just the cost of a milk tea, you can hitch a ride on the AI express.

But as you continue scrolling, the tone suddenly changes.

Some seemingly inconspicuous product links are boldly priced at: 99,900 yuan, 284,500 yuan, 300,000 yuan······

Further investigation revealed that the platform even had "top-level deployment services" priced at 999,900 yuan or even 1,999,900 yuan.

1,999,900 yuan! That’s enough to pay a down payment for a house in a second-tier city. Yet on this platform, it’s bundled as a "service product," listed on a personal seller’s homepage, waiting for a lucky buyer.

What exactly are these "Michelin lobster feasts" priced like house down payments selling? Could open-source software like OpenClaw be sold for sky-high prices like limited-edition luxury cars?

What Is a Deployment Service?

So what is the much hyped "OpenClaw deployment" sellers are talking about?

First, it must be emphasized that OpenClaw is fundamentally open-source software. Like a chef who freely shares a recipe, specifying exactly how many grams of salt and how many minutes to stir-fry. In theory, anyone willing to research should be able to figure out some basic installation and deployment arrangements for "lobster."

Of course, just as not everyone can quickly master how to prepare a gourmet meal, open-source strategy deployment doesn’t guarantee everyone can learn it easily. Even if learned, it takes time.

Thus, all sorts of "service sellers" appeared online, ranging from those who teach you step by step "how to cook the feast," to those who simply provide you "ready meals."

Is the “Million-Priced” Service Worth It?

Is it worth paying a million or more for these installation services?

If it’s only basic deployment and installation, probably not.

Professional technical people told us, "OpenClaw deployment" usually involves three steps:

First, "bring home" the code, downloading it to your own computer or server.

Second, "set up the environment" for the software, requiring specific tool libraries (like Python environment, database interfaces, etc.) to operate officially.

Third, "add hands and eyes," configuring "skills plugins" (Skills), telling the software what exactly to do.

In other words, basic deployment is essentially a standardized tech installation process. Since OpenClaw went viral, there have been various free installation tutorials online.

From 180 Yuan to 30,000 Yuan—Where’s the Difference?

Still, beneath the various price tags, the sellers’ service details vary.

We found: even for "OpenClaw deployment" services, prices range from 180 yuan to 30,000 yuan—it’s not just "more of the same."

For example, one seller offers a 180-yuan service akin to a "basic version," with the core being "operation on your behalf." The seller provides remote one-on-one service, addressing users’ "can’t install" or "don’t want to read tutorials" basic tech issues.

Another seller prices their service at 1,500 yuan, and besides full installation, it includes "boot self-start" setup to ensure the software runs permanently. This seller also specifically notes that they can adjust the AI’s response style to make it "not sound like customer service." They also provide clear hardware advice, promise same-day scheduling, and estimate exclusive debugging time—a combo of installation and initial customization.

One studio claiming to be an AI startup quotes 30,000 yuan. The high price is due to bundling software deployment with hardware sales, covering hardware pre-installation, system adaptation and optimization, and focusing on "ready-to-use." The seller also adds "no price negotiation" and "serious buyers only" trade barriers.

From “Selling Deployment” to “Selling Strategies”

While ordinary sellers’ "installation and persona adjustment" hover at the thousand-yuan level, more "professional" sellers aim higher: automated trading strategies.

One seller’s pitch specifies: Customized development of OpenClaw stock strategy prediction agent, priced at 50,000 yuan.

Unlike the basic services above, product descriptions include: "exclusive private stock analysis AI," "multi-agent automatic collaboration," "real-time market data capture," "intelligent financial news analysis," and even "fully automated trading execution closed loop" and other practical features.

This seller further says the delivery cycle is set at 7–10 days, including cloud deployment, debugging, and after-sales.

Breaking the 100,000 Yuan Barrier: Selling “Strategies”

When the strategy price breaks 100,000 yuan, the nature of the service changes fundamentally.

At this point, sellers are no longer satisfied with offering technical deployment or general strategies. They start selling a kind of packaged "investment strategy."

We found sellers clearly stating their strategy direction, e.g., strongly recommending large/small cap rotation strategies, providing historical results, emphasizing trading cost advantages, and making direct promises addressing retail investors’ pain points: "high probability of avoiding disasters during big market declines."

To boost credibility, they even offer seemingly responsible "real-time advice": "A-shares have declined recently; the current strategy is out of position."

However, when trying to ask about the detailed logic or specifics of the strategies, the seller’s attitude immediately becomes cautious and vague.

The seller tries to clarify fund size, noting the strategy’s effectiveness depends on the customer’s capital scale; regarding recent effectiveness, they also ambiguously say "reserve judgment."

Another seller offering "automated trading + strategy signal generation" adopts more "professional" language.

In their strategy historical performance statements, typical financial compliance disclaimers abound: "based on historical backtesting," "possesses some rotation enhancement effect," "in certain market phases may achieve good excess returns." The text sounds rigorous, but key points like real-world performance, maximum drawdown, and strategy failure boundaries are not mentioned at all.

Another seller mentions splitting profits based on fund size when relevant strategies are sold.

It appears the 100,000-yuan threshold filters out retail buyers just looking to try it out, leaving those seeking wealth growth via "black tech."

Keep Your Eyes Open—A Warning

Of course, whether these strategies are truly effective depends on the teams behind them.

But a clear conclusion is: just as lobsters will certainly become an important technical support for quant institutions, those long-lasting lobster strategies will inevitably belong to the few.

The effectiveness of lobster strategies may be just like its "predecessors"—quant strategies—that only work when few know about them.

Like the old "limit-up daredevil squad" strategy, the truly powerful "deep-sea big lobsters" remain hidden in market corners. The ones running around the market are more likely to be "half-baked" weak lobsters.

So, in this era, keeping your eyes open and discerning ability are very important.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market has risks; invest cautiously. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it consider individual users’ unique investment goals, financial situation, or needs. Users should assess whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article fit their specific circumstances. If you invest based on this, you assume your own responsibility. ```