Exploring the short-term momentum effect in the cryptocurrency market

Abstract

This study explores the short-term momentum effect in the cryptocurrency market. Utilising a comprehensive cryptocurrency dataset and the portfolio construction methods of Fama and French (J Financ Econ 33:3–56, 1993) and Carhart (J Finance 52:57–82, 1997), we construct cryptocurrency portfolios and examine their performance. The main findings are: (1) the cryptocurrency market portfolio significantly outperforms major stock markets globally in terms of risk-adjusted return; (2) from an asset pricing perspective, short-term momentum effects are significantly priced in the cryptocurrency market, while size effects are controlled, suggesting that the short-term momentum effect explains variations in the returns of cryptocurrency portfolios; and (3) the portfolios constructed according to the short-term momentum effect do not outperform the cryptocurrency market portfolio.