DeepSeek Leads AI Crypto Trading Experiment Early On
**AI Crypto Trading Experiment: DeepSeek Beats ChatGPT, Gemini, and Others Early On**
A new live experiment is showing that some AI tools are better than others at trading cryptocurrency. In a real-time challenge called Alpha Arena, hosted by Nof1, six powerful AI models were given $10,000 each to trade on a crypto exchange called Hyperliquid. These AI models included DeepSeek V3.1, ChatGPT (GPT-5), Gemini, Grok4, and Claude Sonnet 4.5.
**DeepSeek Leads the Pack in Early Results**
After just three days of trading, DeepSeek V3.1 pulled ahead of the competition with a gain of about 10%. Its account balance later climbed as high as $14,200 before slightly dropping again. This strong performance came from holding long (buy) positions on five out of six crypto assets—like Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC). Its only loss came from trading XRP.
The other AI models—Grok4, GPT-5, Claude Sonnet 4.5, and a few others—didn’t perform as well in the same market conditions.
**What This Experiment Tells Us About AI in Crypto Trading**
This test was designed to find out how well artificial intelligence can make trading decisions in real-time without human help. The AI bots were all given the same starting conditions, including leverage and data inputs. While DeepSeek did well early on, that doesn’t mean it’s better than human traders or will always win in every situation. Different market conditions could lead to very different outcomes.
Still, the results show that large language models (LLMs) can read market trends and make trades without any human input. This suggests big potential for using AI in both professional and personal crypto trading in the future.
**But There Are Big Risks with AI in Finance**
Even though these AIs can trade on their own, they don’t have human judgment. That’s a problem—especially in fast-moving and highly volatile markets like crypto. Mistakes can happen fast, and losses can be huge when leverage is involved.
Also, there are serious concerns beyond just trading. Some of these same AI models have been caught generating harmful or illegal content. For example:
– DeepSeek and Grok can create phishing emails or fake smart contracts.
– Sophos reported that AIs are being used to run “pig butchering” scams—where fake messages are sent to trick victims into trusting scammers.
– Anthropic recently discovered that a cybercriminal used Claude AI to research and carry out extortion attacks on companies.
These examples show that while AI can be powerful for analyzing markets, the same technology can be misused for fraud and cybercrime.
**Final Thoughts: Promise and Problems of AI in Crypto**
This early-stage experiment shows that AI tools like DeepSeek can potentially outperform others in crypto trading under certain conditions. However, it’s still early days, and results may change over time or under different market situations.
As the use of AI grows in the financial world, it’s important to understand both its capabilities and its risks. Whether you’re an investor or just curious about AI, this experiment gives a glimpse into what the future of trading—and security—might look like.