IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v73y2025ics1544612324015605.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do risk preferences drive momentum in cryptocurrencies?

Author

Listed:
  • Proelss, Juliane
  • Schweizer, Denis
  • Buchwalter, Bastien

Abstract

The cryptocurrency market operates continuously, leading to frequent price fluctuations and information dissemination. This can hinder investors from reacting promptly to market changes, a phenomenon attributed to investors' limited attention. Research in traditional markets shows that the limited attention bias allows successful implementation of momentum strategies. However, past research on cryptocurrency markets finds mixed results. To resolve the puzzle, we utilize a survivorship bias-free dataset while accounting for variations in market capitalization and trading volume. This differentiation is crucial given young and tech affine retail investors' inclination toward smaller-capitalized cryptocurrencies, due to their higher risk tolerance and limited attention. More risk averse investors such as institutional investors, in contrast, focus more on top cryptocurrencies. In line with expectations, we find effective momentum strategies among larger-capitalized cryptocurrencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Proelss, Juliane & Schweizer, Denis & Buchwalter, Bastien, 2025. "Do risk preferences drive momentum in cryptocurrencies?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:73:y:2025:i:c:s1544612324015605
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2024.106531
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612324015605
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2024.106531?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kosc, Krzysztof & Sakowski, Paweł & Ślepaczuk, Robert, 2019. "Momentum and contrarian effects on the cryptocurrency market," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 523(C), pages 691-701.
    2. Grobys, Klaus & Sapkota, Niranjan, 2019. "Cryptocurrencies and momentum," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 6-10.
    3. Long, Huaigang & Demir, Ender & Będowska-Sójka, Barbara & Zaremba, Adam & Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain, 2022. "Is geopolitical risk priced in the cross-section of cryptocurrency returns?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    4. Dong, Bingbing & Jiang, Lei & Liu, Jinyu & Zhu, Yifeng, 2022. "Liquidity in the cryptocurrency market and commonalities across anomalies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Shen, Dehua & Urquhart, Andrew & Wang, Pengfei, 2020. "A three-factor pricing model for cryptocurrencies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    6. Jia, Boxiang & Goodell, John W. & Shen, Dehua, 2022. "Momentum or reversal: Which is the appropriate third factor for cryptocurrencies?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    7. Chang, Hsuan-Ling & Nie, Wei-Ying & Chang, Li-Han & Cheng, Hung-Wen & Yen, Kuang-Chieh, 2023. "Cryptocurrency Momentum and VIX premium," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    8. Corbet, Shaen & Eraslan, Veysel & Lucey, Brian & Sensoy, Ahmet, 2019. "The effectiveness of technical trading rules in cryptocurrency markets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 32-37.
    9. Kogan, Shimon & Makarov, Igor & Niessner, Marina & Schoar, Antoinette, 2024. "Are cryptos different? Evidence from retail trading," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    10. Yi Li & Wei Zhang & Xiong Xiong & Pengfei Wang, 2020. "Does size matter in the cryptocurrency market?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(14), pages 1141-1149, July.
    11. Moskowitz, Tobias J. & Ooi, Yao Hua & Pedersen, Lasse Heje, 2012. "Time series momentum," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 228-250.
    12. Zaremba, Adam & Bilgin, Mehmet Huseyin & Long, Huaigang & Mercik, Aleksander & Szczygielski, Jan J., 2021. "Up or down? Short-term reversal, momentum, and liquidity effects in cryptocurrency markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Li, Yi & Urquhart, Andrew & Wang, Pengfei & Zhang, Wei, 2021. "MAX momentum in cryptocurrency markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. Liu, Weiyi & Liang, Xuan & Cui, Guowei, 2020. "Common risk factors in the returns on cryptocurrencies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 299-305.
    15. Ozdamar, Melisa & Sensoy, Ahmet & Akdeniz, Levent, 2022. "Retail vs institutional investor attention in the cryptocurrency market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    16. Christian Fieberg & Gerrit Liedtke & Daniel Metko & Adam Zaremba, 2023. "Cryptocurrency factor momentum," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(12), pages 1853-1869, November.
    17. Fieberg, Christian & Liedtke, Gerrit & Zaremba, Adam, 2024. "Cryptocurrency anomalies and economic constraints," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    18. Kogana, Shimon & Makarov, Igor & Niessnerc, Marina & Schoar, Antoinette, 2024. "Are cryptos different? Evidence from retail trading," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 122266, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Huang, Dashan & Li, Jiangyuan & Wang, Liyao & Zhou, Guofu, 2020. "Time series momentum: Is it there?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(3), pages 774-794.
    20. Chu, Jeffrey & Chan, Stephen & Zhang, Yuanyuan, 2020. "High frequency momentum trading with cryptocurrencies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    21. Yukun Liu & Aleh Tsyvinski & Xi Wu, 2022. "Common Risk Factors in Cryptocurrency," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(2), pages 1133-1177, April.
    22. Yukun Liu & Aleh Tsyvinski, 2021. "Risks and Returns of Cryptocurrency," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(6), pages 2689-2727.
    23. Tzouvanas, Panagiotis & Kizys, Renatas & Tsend-Ayush, Bayasgalan, 2020. "Momentum trading in cryptocurrencies: Short-term returns and diversification benefits," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mercik, Aleksander & Będowska-Sójka, Barbara & Karim, Sitara & Zaremba, Adam, 2025. "Cross-sectional interactions in cryptocurrency returns," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    2. Fieberg, Christian & Liedtke, Gerrit & Zaremba, Adam, 2024. "Cryptocurrency anomalies and economic constraints," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Cakici, Nusret & Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain & Będowska-Sójka, Barbara & Zaremba, Adam, 2024. "Machine learning and the cross-section of cryptocurrency returns," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. Leong, Minhao & Kwok, Simon, 2023. "The pricing of jump and diffusive risks in the cross-section of cryptocurrency returns," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Bui, Mai & Pham, Huy & Nguyen Thanh, Binh & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar, 2024. "Revisiting the determinants of cryptocurrency excess return: Does scarcity matter?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PC).
    6. Milan Fičura, 2023. "Impact of size and volume on cryptocurrency momentum and reversal," FFA Working Papers 5.003, Prague University of Economics and Business, revised 05 Apr 2023.
    7. Fieberg, Christian & Günther, Steffen & Poddig, Thorsten & Zaremba, Adam, 2024. "Non-standard errors in the cryptocurrency world," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    8. Christian Fieberg & Gerrit Liedtke & Daniel Metko & Adam Zaremba, 2023. "Cryptocurrency factor momentum," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(12), pages 1853-1869, November.
    9. Borgards, Oliver, 2021. "Dynamic time series momentum of cryptocurrencies," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    10. Long, Huaigang & Demir, Ender & Będowska-Sójka, Barbara & Zaremba, Adam & Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain, 2022. "Is geopolitical risk priced in the cross-section of cryptocurrency returns?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    11. Dobrynskaya, Victoria, 2024. "Is downside risk priced in cryptocurrency market?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    12. Liebi, Luca J., 2022. "Is there a value premium in cryptoasset markets?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    13. Zaremba, Adam & Bilgin, Mehmet Huseyin & Long, Huaigang & Mercik, Aleksander & Szczygielski, Jan J., 2021. "Up or down? Short-term reversal, momentum, and liquidity effects in cryptocurrency markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    14. Hoang, Lai & Vo, Duc Hong, 2024. "Google search and cross-section of cryptocurrency returns and trading activities," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    15. Zhao, Xiaojuan & Wang, Ye & Liu, Weiyi, 2024. "Someone like you: Lottery-like preference and the cross-section of expected returns in the cryptocurrency market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    16. Dunbar, Kwamie & Owusu-Amoako, Johnson, 2023. "Predictability of crypto returns: The impact of trading behavior," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    17. Bennett, Donyetta & Mekelburg, Erik & Williams, T.H., 2023. "BeFi meets DeFi: A behavioral finance approach to decentralized finance asset pricing," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    18. Conlon, Thomas & Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les, 2024. "Bitcoin forks: What drives the branches?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    19. Sadaqat, Mohsin & Butt, Hilal Anwar, 2023. "Stop-loss rules and momentum payoffs in cryptocurrencies," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    20. José Almeida & Tiago Cruz Gonçalves, 2024. "Cryptocurrency market microstructure: a systematic literature review," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 332(1), pages 1035-1068, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Coin; Crypto-assets; Cryptocurrency; Heterogeneous risk aversion; Investment strategy; Momentum; Token;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G29 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Other
    • G40 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:73:y:2025:i:c:s1544612324015605. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.