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Who trades cryptocurrencies, how do they trade it, and how do they perform? Evidence from brokerage accounts

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  • Hasso, Tim
  • Pelster, Matthias
  • Breitmayer, Bastian

Abstract

We investigate the demographic characteristics, trading patterns, and performance of 465.926 brokerage accounts with respect to cryptocurrency trading. We find that cryptocurrency trading became increasingly popular across individuals of all different groups of age, gender, and trading patterns. Yet, men are more likely to engage in cryptocurrency trading, trade more frequently, and more speculative, respectively. As a result, men realize lower returns. Furthermore, we find that investors vary their trading patterns across different asset classes.

Suggested Citation

  • Hasso, Tim & Pelster, Matthias & Breitmayer, Bastian, 2019. "Who trades cryptocurrencies, how do they trade it, and how do they perform? Evidence from brokerage accounts," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 64-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:beexfi:v:23:y:2019:i:c:p:64-74
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbef.2019.04.009
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    Cited by:

    1. Marco Santorsola & Rocco Caferra & Andrea Morone, 2023. "The salience of informed risk: an experimental analysis," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 51(9), pages 21-35, June.
    2. Matthias Pelster & Bastian Breitmayer & Tim Hasso, 2019. "Are cryptocurrency traders pioneers or just risk-seekers? Evidence from brokerage accounts," Papers 1906.11968, arXiv.org.
    3. Maira Andrade & Philip W. S. Newall, 2023. "Cryptocurrencies as Gamblified Financial Assets and Cryptocasinos: Novel Risks for a Public Health Approach to Gambling," Risks, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-14, February.
    4. Matteo Benetton & Giovanni Compiani, 2024. "Investors’ Beliefs and Cryptocurrency Prices," The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 197-236.
    5. Aggarwal, Divya & Chandrasekaran, Shabana & Annamalai, Balamurugan, 2020. "A complete empirical ensemble mode decomposition and support vector machine-based approach to predict Bitcoin prices," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    6. Saggese, Pietro & Belmonte, Alessandro & Dimitri, Nicola & Facchini, Angelo & Böhme, Rainer, 2023. "Arbitrageurs in the Bitcoin ecosystem: Evidence from user-level trading patterns in the Mt. Gox exchange platform," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 251-270.
    7. Andreas Hackethal & Tobin Hanspal & Dominique M Lammer & Kevin Rink, 2022. "The Characteristics and Portfolio Behavior of Bitcoin Investors: Evidence from Indirect Cryptocurrency Investments [The investor in structured retail products: advice driven or gambling oriented]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(4), pages 855-898.
    8. Son, Dong-Hoon, 2023. "On-demand ride-sourcing markets with cryptocurrency-based fare-reward scheme," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    9. Vesa Pursiainen & Jan Toczynski, 2023. "Retail Investors’ Cryptocurrency Investments," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 23-51, Swiss Finance Institute.
    10. Díaz, Antonio & Esparcia, Carlos & Huélamo, Diego, 2023. "Stablecoins as a tool to mitigate the downside risk of cryptocurrency portfolios," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Pattnaik, Debidutta & Hassan, M. Kabir & Dsouza, Arun & Tiwari, Aviral & Devji, Shridev, 2023. "Ex-post facto analysis of cryptocurrency literature over a decade using bibliometric technique," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    12. Lammer, Dominique Marcel & Hanspal, Tobin & Hackethal, Andreas, 2020. "Who are the Bitcoin investors? Evidence from indirect cryptocurrency investments," SAFE Working Paper Series 277, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    13. Gemayel, Roland & Preda, Alex, 2021. "Performance and learning in an ambiguous environment: A study of cryptocurrency traders," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. Hazar Altınbaş, 2022. "The influence of the pandemic on financial decisions made by individuals in Turkey: A cross-sectional study," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 49(3), pages 341-353, September.
    15. Matteo Benetton & Giovanni Compiani, 2020. "Investors’ Beliefs and Asset Prices: A Structural Model of Cryptocurrency Demand," Working Papers 2020-107, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    16. Cynthia Weiyi Cai & Rui Xue & Bi Zhou, 2023. "Cryptocurrency puzzles: a comprehensive review and re-introduction," Journal of Accounting Literature, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 46(1), pages 26-50, June.
    17. Georgios A. Panos & Tatja Karkkainen & Adele Atkinson, 2020. "Financial Literacy and Attitudes to Cryptocurrencies," Working Papers 2020_26, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    18. Cascavilla, Alessandro, 2023. "Between money and speculative asset: the role of financial literacy on the perception towards Bitcoin in Italy," MPRA Paper 118472, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Cascavilla, Alessandro, 2024. "Between money and speculative asset: The role of financial literacy on the perception towards Bitcoin in Italy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    20. Crépellière, Tommy & Pelster, Matthias & Zeisberger, Stefan, 2023. "Arbitrage in the market for cryptocurrencies," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cryptocurrencies; Bitcoin; Trading; Investor returns; Demographics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G40 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - General

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