The 369th Wenlan Financial Forum

Abstract:In this paper, we investigate the impact of generative AI on cryptocurrency trading activity. Using ChatGPT outages as exogenous shocks, we document a significant increase in cryptocurrency trading volume during these periods. The mechanism analysis shows that news releases exert an incremental effect on trading volume. Further analysis indicates that the increase in trading volume primarily stems from a rise in small trade. Moreover, unlike the effects observed during ChatGPT outages, cryptocurrency trading volume does not change significantly during OpenAI API outage periods. These findings suggest that the increase in cryptocurrency trading volume closely relates to intensified retail trading activity.

Speaker Introduction：

Dehua Shen, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Finance, Nankai University. He is recognized as one of the Hundred Young Academic Leaders and an Elsevier China Highly Cited Researcher (2022–2025; selected discipline: Applied Economics). He currently serves as Deputy Secretary-General of the Financial Management Professional Committee of the China Society for Management Modernization, Deputy Secretary-General of the Youth Working Committee of the Chinese Society of Optimization, Overall Planning and Economic Mathematics, Member of the Blockchain Professional Committee of the China Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and Council Member of the China Information Economics Association. He has led one Young Scientists Fund project and two General Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), one Young Talent Support Project of Tianjin, and participated as a key young researcher in a Major Project of the NSFC. His research achievements have earned him the First Prize for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Systems Science and Systems Engineering, the EFM 2020 Readers' Choice Best Paper Award (European Financial Management Association), the Outstanding Paper Award at the 18th China Management Annual Conference, and the Second Prize for Outstanding Research Achievements in Higher Education Institutions (8th Award Cycle).