In a recent cryptocurrency trading competition, two budget AI models from China, QWEN3 MAX and DeepSeek, showcased remarkable performance, outperforming established entities such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The competition concluded Tuesday, revealing that QWEN3 was the sole AI to yield positive returns, achieving a profit of $751 and a 7.5% return rate.

AI models, crypto trading competition. Source: CoinGlass

Conversely, the competition ended poorly for ChatGPT; it ended with a 57% loss, decreasing its starting capital of $10,000 down to $4,272. This outcome raises concerns about the effectiveness of even the most well-funded AI systems in the fast-paced world of cryptocurrency trading.

QWEN3 held a leveraged long position on Bitcoin during the competition, starting when Bitcoin was priced at $104,556 and was at risk of liquidation if it dropped below $100,630.

QWEN 3 crypto portfolio on Wednesday. Source: CoinGlass

DeepSeek finished second, despite having a training budget of $5.3 million. In comparison, OpenAI reportedly allocated $5.7 billion for research and development in just the first half of 2025, underscoring the competition’s surprising results that heavily funded models still struggle with real-time trading capabilities.

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This event highlights the evolving landscape of AI in finance, with budget solutions proving competitive against established giants.