This article is reprinted with permission from Baihua Blockchain, author: Cole, copyright belongs to the original author.
Imagine what would happen if one of the smartest "brains" in today's world—those top AI models we are familiar with—were thrown into the most chaotic, thrilling, and real battlefield.
This is not science fiction; it is a real experiment currently underway.
Nof1.ai has launched an AI live trading competition called "Alpha Arena." They provided six top AIs, including GPT-5, Gemini, Grok, Claude, DeepSeek, and Qwen, with $10,000 each to freely compete on the cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform Hyperliquid.
The backdrop of the competition is also dramatic. Just days before the start, the crypto market had experienced a bloody flash crash, with Bitcoin's price plummeting by over $10,000 in minutes. As the AIs entered the arena, they faced a high-volatility market filled with panic, greed, and uncertainty. How will this chaotic battle unfold?
The lineup for this competition can be described as the "Avengers" of the AI world, each with a distinguished background, representing different technological paths in global AI development.
Captain America & Iron Man (GPT-5 & Gemini 2.5 Pro): The two "big brothers" from OpenAI and Google, recognized as the ceiling of general intelligence, representing the most orthodox and powerful AI capabilities. They are like omnipotent superheroes, theoretically capable of anything.
The "X" Factor (Grok-4): The "troll" AI under Musk, its biggest weapon is the ability to access real-time data streams from X (formerly Twitter). In the crypto market, which heavily relies on social media sentiment and "shilling," Grok's information advantage is unique. It can quickly capture the community's FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) or FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) sentiments.
Peacemaker (Claude Sonnet 4.5): From Anthropic, known for its strong logical reasoning and dedication to "AI safety." Its participation seems to explore whether a more "ethical" AI can survive in the brutal zero-sum game.
Eastern Mysterious Power (DeepSeek V3.1 & Qwen 3 Max): Two top models from China. Especially DeepSeek, whose founder Liang Wenfeng is also a co-founder of Huansquare Quant. This background has led everyone to speculate: Does DeepSeek inherently possess the genes of trading?
This showdown is less about the performance of the models and more about the clash of different philosophies: Is general intelligence superior, or is information advantage king? Or can an expert player with deep "domain knowledge" achieve a dimensionality reduction strike?
A day and a half into the competition, data began to show significant divergence, and the numbers on the leaderboard shocked everyone. The highly anticipated GPT-5 and Gemini performed disastrously, with their account funds plummeting. Leading the pack were those "well-connected" players.
DeepSeek, with its quant genes, topped the leaderboard with a net account value of $13,738, achieving a +37.3% high return. Grok, mastering social cues, followed closely with an account value of $13,306, a return rate of +33.06%. Claude, known for its safety, performed steadily, ranking third with a net value of $12,404 (return rate +24%).
In contrast, the former AI giants found themselves in an awkward position: GPT-5's account value was only about $7,265, with a loss of -27.4%; while Gemini performed the worst, with an account value of only $6,824, suffering a loss of -31.7%.
This result clearly indicates that this perspective has issues. In the chaotic realm of the crypto market, filled with noise, emotions, and sudden events, pure "IQ" seems ineffective. Instead, models with specific "weapons"—quantitative strategy backgrounds or exclusive information channels—are the ones that can truly unlock the code for creating Alpha.
Interestingly, under the pressure of real money, these AIs exhibited distinctly different "trading personalities," as if they were possessed by traders with unique characteristics.
DeepSeek: Brainless Full Long
Style Profile: DeepSeek's strategy is extremely simple and crude—"brainless full long." It adopted a long strategy with 10 to 15 times leverage on all tradable coins, like a steadfast long warrior.
Heroic Battle: While all models shorted XRP due to panic, DeepSeek was the only one that chose to go long against the trend. This single trade brought it over $800 in unrealized gains. This contrarian operation may not simply be chasing the trend but is supported by the model's confidence and systematic strategy.
AI Voice: DeepSeek's post-competition "statement" was filled with the calmness and discipline of a quantitative trader: I will continue to follow the plan and let existing stop-loss and take-profit targets automatically manage trades. Translated, it means: Everything is under control, emotions are undisturbed.
Grok: King of Community Sentiment
Style Profile: Grok is also a steadfast bull, but its operations are more aggressive and emotional. For example, it opened a long position on Bitcoin with up to 20 times leverage, clearly capturing the market's extreme optimistic FOMO sentiment.
Make-or-Break Move: In contrast to DeepSeek, Grok chose to short XRP, which happened to be one of its few losing trades. This was likely because it captured negative sentiment about XRP from the X platform.
AI Voice: Grok's behavior perfectly illustrates "trading coins based on Twitter." Its sensitivity to market sentiment is unmatched, making it a top momentum and narrative trader. Its success is a victory of information advantage.
GPT-5 & Gemini: Chaotic Analysts and High-Stakes Gamblers
GPT-5's Chaos: As the strongest general AI, GPT-5's operations appeared illogical and even "schizophrenic." It heavily longed Bitcoin while simultaneously shorting SOL and XRP, resulting in losses on both sides. It resembles an analyst overthinking, trying to bet everywhere, only to be repeatedly slapped by the market. Its "humble" statement after losses feels more like a retail trader reflecting on a wrong trade.
Gemini's Recklessness: Gemini is the most aggressive and "high-stakes" gambler. It frequently uses ultra-high leverage of 15 to 25 times, going long against the trend on XRP, leading to massive account losses. Although it once recorded the largest single profit, its enormous losses exposed fatal flaws in its risk management.
This competition vividly demonstrates that on the trading floor, a disciplined "special forces soldier" (DeepSeek) and an information-savvy "spy" (Grok) are far more lethal than a "jack-of-all-trades" (GPT-5) that knows everything but lacks practical experience.
This unique competition has naturally sparked heated discussions both inside and outside the industry.
The Celebration of DeFi Idealists
For many native crypto users, this is a moment when the "DeFi + AI" (DeFAI) dream comes to reality. They envision a future where AI agents autonomously engage in liquidity mining across various DeFi protocols, manage DAO organizations, and even conduct MEV attacks, becoming native participants in the on-chain economy. For them, Alpha Arena is a prototype of a "killer application."
Skepticism from Traditional Finance
Of course, many people express skepticism about this. Some believe that the crypto market itself is "irrational and random," so this competition is merely a test of AI's "luck." They feel that if the competition were held in the more fundamentally clear U.S. stock market, the results might be very different.
Calmness from Professionals
More professional analysts hold a "human-machine combination" perspective. They believe that while AI excels at processing vast amounts of data, it still relies on human wisdom for higher-dimensional strategic reasoning and dealing with the unique "noise" of financial data. The dismal performance of GPT-5 and Gemini precisely confirms this: AI is a powerful tool, but the ultimate decision-maker should perhaps still be human.
Alpha Arena is far more than just a competition; it serves as a barometer, revealing the future landscape of AI and crypto integration.
The victories of DeepSeek and Grok eloquently prove that general large models cannot directly solve all problems. Future financial AI is likely to develop in two directions:
One is to deeply integrate with specific domain knowledge (such as quantitative finance) like DeepSeek;
The other is to master unique and high-value data sources like Grok. For projects looking to venture into the DeFAI field, this points to a clear direction.
Regardless, Alpha Arena has opened Pandora's box. It tells us with real money that the era of AI traders has arrived, but the one who can ultimately stand at the pinnacle of the crypto world may not be the smartest "jack-of-all-trades" we imagine, but a more focused, knowledgeable, and "cunning" "professional player."
Related: Google announces quantum advantage: 13,000 times faster than supercomputers
Original article: “The AI Trading War: Eastern Power Rises, GPT-5 Falls from Grace, Who is the New Deity of Crypto?”
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