A Comparative Study of Temporal Convolutional Network and Gated Recurrent Unit for Predicting Ethereum Prices

Abstract

This study compares the performance of the Temporal Convolutional Network (TCN) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) models in predicting the price of Ethereum, which is important to support cryptocurrency investment strategies. With the high volatility of the cryptocurrency market, an accurate and reliable prediction model is needed. In this study, Ethereum's daily closing price data over four years was analyzed using TCN and GRU models to evaluate its predictive capabilities. Model accuracy is measured using Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), and Mean Squared Error (MSE). The results showed that the TCN model excelled in average accuracy with lower MAE and MAPE values, while the GRU model showed excellence in reducing the impact of large errors with smaller MSE values. This reflects TCN's superiority in capturing the overall pattern of price movements, while the GRU is more responsive to short-term price fluctuations. These findings demonstrate the potential of both models in cryptocurrency price forecasting, with their respective advantages. This research provides valuable information for investors and researchers in developing predictive strategies in dynamic financial markets. A combination of TCN and GRU models can also be explored to improve prediction performance in the future.