Chinese AI Models Outperform in Cryptocurrency Trading Competition
Two Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) models, DeepSeek and Alibaba's Qwen, have emerged as frontrunners in a competitive live cryptocurrency trading event, significantly outperforming their Western counterparts. These AI models have achieved remarkable triple-digit gains within a short span of less than two weeks, showcasing their superiority in navigating the volatile cryptocurrency market.
Impressive Gains by DeepSeek and Qwen
The trading competition, known as Alpha Arena, was initiated by Nof1, a U.S.-based research firm, and is designed to simulate real-market conditions. DeepSeek's Chat V3.1 has demonstrated exceptional performance, transforming an initial investment of $10,000 into $22,900 by Monday. This remarkable 126% increase in portfolio value highlights the model's adeptness in executing profitable trades since the competition kicked off on October 18.
Alibaba's Qwen 3 Max closely followed suit with an impressive 108% return, effectively doubling its starting capital to $20,850. Qwen briefly outshone DeepSeek between October 24 and 26, underscoring its competitive edge, before settling into second place.
Western AI Models Struggle to Keep Up
In stark contrast to the robust performance of the Chinese AI models, their Western counterparts lagged significantly. OpenAI's GPT-5 recorded the worst performance, suffering a substantial 60% loss in its portfolio. Google DeepMind's Gemini 2.5 Pro fared slightly better but still ended with a sizable 57% decline.
Other Western models, such as xAI's Grok 4 and Anthropic's Claude 4.5 Sonnet, showed some resilience with gains of 14% and 23%, respectively. However, these figures still pale in comparison to the achievements of the leading Chinese models.
The Structure and Purpose of Alpha Arena
The ongoing trading competition involves six leading AI models, each starting with an equal capital of $10,000 and afforded identical access to real-time trading data. The primary objective is to maximize returns by leveraging algorithmic decision-making and adaptive strategies, trading major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE).
"Our goal with Alpha Arena is to make benchmarks more like the real world -- and markets are perfect for this," Nof1 declared on their website. This statement underscores the initiative's intent to simulate real-world trading scenarios and assess the practical efficacy of AI strategies in finance.
Strategic Moves and Market Conditions
As of Monday morning, both DeepSeek and GPT-5 maintained diversified long positions across six assets, whereas Qwen opted to go all-in on Ether, capitalizing on its rally. The strategic choices by these AI models underscore their adaptability and varied approaches to exploiting market conditions.
These gains by the Chinese models coincided with a recovery in Bitcoin's price, climbing to around $114,000, and Ethereum's rebound after experiencing weeks of volatility. The ongoing competition, which concludes on November 3, illustrates the Chinese AI models' superior adaptability in the unpredictable cryptocurrency landscape.
DeepSeek's Bold Market Forecasts
Beyond current performance, DeepSeek AI has issued a confident forecast for the cryptocurrency market. The AI predicts significant rallies for Ethereum, Cardano, and XRP as the new year approaches. Despite recent volatility affected by geopolitical events, such as Donald Trump's tariff announcement on Chinese imports, DeepSeek anticipates these corrections will lead to substantial market rebounds.
Ethereum's Promising Future
DeepSeek predicts Ethereum's price may surge to a range of $12,000 to $15,000, representing a potential gain of up to 280% from current levels. Ethereum's centrality in decentralized finance and the possibility of new, crypto-friendly reforms under Trump's administration are driving forces behind this bullish outlook.
Currently facing resistance near $4,000, ETH has the potential, according to DeepSeek, for a breakout that could see it surpassing previous all-time highs before the year concludes.
Prospects for Cardano and XRP
DeepSeek's forecast extends to Cardano and XRP with equally ambitious projections. Cardano (ADA) is expected to reach between $7 and $10 by late 2025, marking a potential increase of over 1,200%, bolstered by Cardano's growing developer community and technical advancements.
Meanwhile, XRP could rise towards the $10 mark, benefiting from enhanced regulatory clarity and novel partnerships, especially after Ripple's recent legal victory over the SEC. These factors are anticipated to reinvigorate investor confidence in XRP, boosting its market performance.