Bitcoin, as the most popular cryptocurrency, has received increasing attention from both investors and researchers over recent years. One emerging branch of the research on bitcoin focuses on empirical bitcoin pricing. Machine learning methods are well suited for predictive problems, and researchers frequently apply these methods to predict bitcoin prices and returns. In this study, we analyze the existing body of literature on empirical bitcoin pricing via machine learning and structure it according to four different concepts. We show that research on this topic is highly diverse and that the results of several studies can only be compared to a limited extent. We further derive guidelines for future publications in the field to ensure a sufficient level of transparency and reproducibility.
Tri Wijayanti Septiarini, Muhammad Rifki Taufik, Mufti Afif, Atika Rukminastiti Masyrifah
Abstract The objective of this study were (i) to construct the classical statistic and artificial intelligent model for predicting bitcoin cryptocurrency, and (ii) to compare the predicting performance by using root mean square error (RMSE) and mean square error (MSE) as forecasting evaluation tool. The observation data used in this study were collected during January, 5 2017 to October, 1 2019 (in total 1,000 daily observation data). The statistical method used in this study were ARIMA (Autoregressive Moving Average) and Exponential Smoothing. The artificial intelligent model were used in this study were fuzzy time series and ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System). The partitions data set were of 75%-25% of training and testing, respectively. The cryptocurrency investigated was bitcoin (BTC) which is the top three of most widely traded cryptocurrency. The forecasting results show that the classical method has the smallest value of RMSE and MSE which is exponential smoothing with 9749.81 for MSE and 98.74 for RMSE. However, the performance of forecasting method cannot be guaranteed from either classical or modern forecasting method. Analyzing with different method can be considered for future study, for example machine learning, neural network, modified fuzzy time series, etc.
We model a cryptocurrency as membership in a decentralized digital platform developed to facilitate transactions between users of certain goods or services. The rigidity induced by the cryptocurrency price having to clear membership demand with supply of token by speculators, especially with strong complementarity in membership demand, can lead to market breakdown. While user optimism mitigates the market fragility by increasing user participation, speculator sentiment exacerbates it by crowding users out. Informational frictions attenuate the risk of breakdown by dampening price volatility and platform performance. Furthermore, the users' anticipation of losses from strategic attacks by miners exacerbates the market fragility.
This article analyzes the relationship between Bitcoin and the stock market by using a vector autoregressive model. To enhance the impulse response signal, the Sliding Window technique is applied. Study results show the relationship between Bitcoin and the stock market. First, the S&P 500 has a relatively significant effect on Bitcoin, while the influence caused by the S&P 500 is weak. In addition, after involving the Sliding Window technique, the effects caused by the standard deviation of the S&P 500 and the mean of the Dow Jones are remarkably strong on the mean of Bitcoin and the standard deviation of the S&P 500 has a comparatively significant effect on the standard deviation of Bitcoin as well. Generally, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones indexes have an advantageous effect on Bitcoin. Financial investment can be made based on this model and conclusion.
Algorithmic trading is well studied in traditional financial markets. However, it has received less attention in centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) attributed the $2010$ flash crash, one of the most turbulent periods in the history of financial markets that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average lose $9\%$ of its value within minutes, to automated order "spoofing" algorithms. In this paper, we build a set of methodologies to characterize and empirically measure different algorithmic trading strategies in Binance, a large centralized cryptocurrency exchange, using a complete data set of historical trades. We find that a sub-strategy of triangular arbitrage is widespread, where bots convert between two coins through an intermediary coin, and obtain a favorable exchange rate compared to the direct one. We measure the profitability of this strategy, characterize its risks, and outline two strategies that algorithmic trading bots use to mitigate their losses. We find that this strategy yields an exchange ratio that is $0.144\%$, or $14.4$ basis points (bps) better than the direct exchange ratio. $2.71\%$ of all trades on Binance are attributable to this strategy.
We investigate the behaviour of cryptocurrencies using data for bitcoin, ethereum and ripple which account for over 70% of the cryptocurrency market. We demonstrate that $α$-stable distribution is an appropriately sufficient model for highly speculative cryptocurrencies which outperforms other heavy tailed distributions that are used in financial econometrics. We find that the maximum likelihood method proposed by DuMouchel (1971) produces estimates that fit the cryptocurrency return data much better than the quantile based approach of McCulloch (1986) and sample characteristic method by Koutrouvelis (1980). The empirical results show that the leptokurtic feature presented in cryptocurrency return data can be captured by an $α$-stable distribution. The findings highlight that $α$-stable distribution is not only parsimonious with its four free parameters but also a creative model that is close to reality. This paper covers early reports and literature on cryptocurrencies and stable distributions.
Otabek Sattarov, Azamjon Muminov, Cheol Won Lee, Hyun Kyu Kang · 8 authors
The net profit of investors can rapidly increase if they correctly decide to take one of these three actions: buying, selling, or holding the stocks. The right action is related to massive stock market measurements. Therefore, defining the right action requires specific knowledge from investors. The economy scientists, following their research, have suggested several strategies and indicating factors that serve to find the best option for trading in a stock market. However, several investorsâ capital decreased when they tried to trade the basis of the recommendation of these strategies. That means the stock market needs more satisfactory research, which can give more guarantee of success for investors. To address this challenge, we tried to apply one of the machine learning algorithms, which is called deep reinforcement learning (DRL) on the stock market. As a result, we developed an application that observes historical price movements and takes action on real-time prices. We tested our proposal algorithm with threeâBitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), and Ethereum (ETH)âcrypto coinsâ historical data. The experiment on Bitcoin via DRL application shows that the investor got 14.4% net profits within one month. Similarly, tests on Litecoin and Ethereum also finished with 74% and 41% profit, respectively.
In recent years cryptocurrency trading has captured the attention of practitioners and academics. The volume of the exchange with standard currencies has known a dramatic increasing of late. This paper addresses to the need of models describing a bitcoin-US dollar exchange dynamic and their use to evaluate European option having bitcoin as underlying asset.
This paper investigates the return-volatility asymmetry of Bitcoin. We find that the cross correlations between return and volatility (squared return) are mostly insignificant on a daily level. In the high-frequency region, we find thata power-law appears in negative cross correlation between returns and future volatilities, which suggests that the cross correlation is \revision{long ranged}. We also calculate a cross correlation between returns and the power of absolute returns, and we find that the strength of \revision{the cross correlations} depends on the value of the power.
Abstract Bitcoin is currently the leading global provider of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency allows users to safely and anonymously use the Internet to perform digital currency transfers and storage. In recent years, the Bitcoin network has attracted investors, businesses, and corporations while facilitating services and product deals. Moreover, Bitcoin has made itself the dominant source of decentralized cryptocurrency. While considerable research has been done concerning Bitcoin network analysis, limited research has been conducted on predicting the Bitcoin price. The purpose of this study is to predict the price of Bitcoin and changes therein using the grey system theory. The first order grey model (GM (1,1)) is used for this purpose. It uses a first-order differential equation to model the trend of time series. The results show that the GM (1,1) model predicts Bitcoinâs price accurately and that one can earn a maximum profit confidence level of approximately 98% by choosing the appropriate time frame and by managing investment assets.
The cryptocurrency market is amongst the fastest-growing of all the financial markets in the world. Unlike traditional markets, such as equities, foreign exchange and commodities, cryptocurrency market is considered to have larger volatility and illiquidity. This paper is inspired by the recent success of using deep learning for stock market prediction. In this work, we analyze and present the characteristics of the cryptocurrency market in a high-frequency setting. In particular, we applied a deep learning approach to predict the direction of the mid-price changes on the upcoming tick. We monitored live tick-level data from $8$ cryptocurrency pairs and applied both statistical and machine learning techniques to provide a live prediction. We reveal that promising results are possible for cryptocurrencies, and in particular, we achieve a consistent $78\%$ accuracy on the prediction of the mid-price movement on live exchange rate of Bitcoins vs US dollars.
Vladimir Soloviev, Symon P. Yevtushenko, Viktor Batareyev
This article demonstrates the comparative possibility of constructing indicators of critical and crash phenomena in the volatile market of cryptocurrency and developed stock market. Then, combining the empirical cross-correlation matrix with the Random Matrix Theory, we mainly examine the statistical properties of cross-correlation coefficients, the evolution of the distribution of eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors in both markets using the daily returns of price time series. The result has indicated that the largest eigenvalue reflects a collective effect of the whole market, and is very sensitive to the crash phenomena. It has been shown that introduced the largest eigenvalue of the matrix of correlations can act like indicators-predictors of falls in both markets.
Andrey Pogudin, Anindya S. Chakrabati, Tiziana Di Matteo
Cryptocurrencies represent an asset class featuring two unique properties: they are not backed by sovereigns, and their supply is fixed exogenously. This combination becomes apparent in their volatility, which is driven only by demand-side factors. In particular, cryptocurrencies represent an extreme case of the excess volatility puzzle, with asset prices moving more than the fundamentals. We explore the effects of market capitalization on the dynamics of cryptocurrencies within both returns and volatility networks and show that these cryptocurrencies exhibit scaling properties in volatility with respect to market capitalization. The dependency network suggests that currencies with a larger market share have a larger presence in the dominant eigenspectrum, and they exert more influence in the comovement network. In these regards, we find parallels between the dynamics of cryptocurrencies and those of more traditional asset classes. Our findings have implications for both researchers and practitioners in terms of modeling and analyzing the collective behavior of financial assets.
Jianhong Lin, Kevin Primicerio, Tiziano Squartini, Christian Decker · 5 authors
Abstract The Bitcoin lightning network (BLN), a so-called âsecond layerâ payment protocol, was launched in 2018 to scale up the number of transactions between Bitcoin owners. In this paper, we analyse the structure of the BLN over a period of 18 months, ranging from 12th January 2018 to 17th July 2019, at the end of which the network has reached 8.216 users, 122.517 active channels and 2.732,5 transacted Bitcoins. Here, we consider three representations of the BLN: the daily snapshot one, the weekly snapshot one and the daily-block snapshot one. By studying the topological properties of the binary and weighted versions of the three representations above, we find that the total volume of transacted Bitcoins approximately grows as the square of the network size; however, despite the huge activity characterising the BLN, the Bitcoins distribution is very unequal: the average Gini coefficient of the node strengths (computed across the entire history of the Bitcoin lightning network) is, in fact, â0.88 causing the 10% (50%) of the nodes to hold the 80% (99%) of the Bitcoins at stake in the BLN (on average, across the entire period). This concentration brings up the question of which minimalist network model allows us to explain the network topological structure. Like for other economic systems, we hypothesise that local properties of nodes, like the degree, ultimately determine part of its characteristics. Therefore, we have tested the goodness of the undirected binary configuration model (UBCM) in reproducing the structural features of the BLN: the UBCM recovers the disassortative and the hierarchical character of the BLN but underestimates the centrality of nodes; this suggests that the BLN is becoming an increasingly centralised network, more and more compatible with a core-periphery structure. Further inspection of the resilience of the BLN shows that removing hubs leads to the collapse of the network into many components, an evidence suggesting that this network may be a target for the so-called split attacks .
Drawing on some some early literature in economics we develop a framework that assists the consideration of Bitcoin as a novel economic good. We highlight an essential tension between scarcity and concentration as having an overarching impact on Bitcoin's value. In conjunction with the structural features of its blockchain and consensus protocol, as instantiated by the mechanism of its code, the role of provisioning for future demand and production places a keener emphasis on the role of inventory management. This creates an interesting dynamic in Bitcoin between its structurally regulated supply and organic reservation demand for bitcoins by miners on the one hand and its broader market demand on the other. Understanding the features of this dynamic as a foundation for Bitcoin gives us some simple insights on its price path.
Andrew L. Detzel, Hong Liu, Jack Strauss, Guofu Zhou · 5 authors
Abstract What predicts returns on assets with âhardâtoâvalueâ fundamentals such as Bitcoin and stocks in new industries? We are the first to propose an equilibrium model that shows how technical analysis can arise endogenously via rational learning, providing a theoretical foundation for using technical analysis in practice. We document that ratios of prices to their moving averages forecast daily Bitcoin returns in and out of sample. Trading strategies based on these ratios generate an economically significant alpha and Sharpe ratio gains relative to a buyâandâhold position. Similar results hold for smallâcap, youngâfirm, and low analystâcoverage stocks as well as NASDAQ stocks during the dotcom era.