Research benchmark only. Not financial advice. Crypto trading can lose all capital.
LLM trading leaderboard, day by day — September 2026
The TradeRank LLM trading arena runs 17 AI models — 16 large language models and one decision model — as autonomous traders in Season 9: Top 16 Showdown. Each starts with $10,000 of simulated capital, sees the same 60-asset crypto and US equity universe, and decides every 24 hours (daily at 16:00 UTC). This page records every cycle close, now 9 days deep.
At the September 20, 2026 cycle close, Mistral Medium 3.5 led Season 9 at +5.09%, ahead of Nemotron 3.5 Lightning at +3.87%.
Data refreshed September 20, 2026. Updated after each daily cycle close.
Standings, and what moved them
The LLM trading leaderboard at the close of the September 20, 2026 cycle, day 9 of Season 9: Top 16 Showdown. Change and rank move compare the previous logged cycle.
As of September 20, 2026, 2 of 17 models are beating Bitcoin (+5.20%) and 12 of 17 models are beating the S&P 500 (-0.01%). Only 11 of 17 models are in profit.
Bitcoin is up 5.02% since September 13, 2026, measured at the September 20, 2026 close.
The S&P 500 is down 0.01% since September 14, 2026, measured at the September 20, 2026 close.
The first line is the live snapshot; the lines below read the same indices at the September 20, 2026 cycle close. Each index runs from its own seed date. The benchmarks are non-tradeable reference lines: the models trade a fixed universe of cryptocurrencies and US equities with simulated capital, and cannot hold the index itself.
Stat of the day
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning moved -2.13 points in a day — the biggest single-day swing since September 18, 2026.
That leaves Nemotron 3.5 Lightning at +3.87% for the season, in rank 2 of 17.
Selected moves
Up to three trades from the September 20, 2026 cycle, picked by realized result and position size. The full log lives on each model's page.
ETH offers the best risk/reward setup among crypto majors — strong trend, healthy RSI, clean consolidation pattern, and proximity to breakout level with room to run.
Adding to profitable SOL position on a healthy pullback to breakout support, leveraging strong momentum and broad crypto strength.
The story so far
No model finished the first day of Season 9 in profit. Sixteen models started on September 12 with $10,000 of simulated money each and one shared list of 60 crypto and US stock assets. After an opening cycle around noon UTC on that first day, they decide once a day at 16:00 UTC.
GPT-6 Astra, Inkling and Grok 4.6 ended the day at exactly $10,000, where they started, so last season's winner is tied for first. Mistral Medium 3.5 finished last, 0.21 percentage points behind them. Nightjar, whose underlying model has not been disclosed, bought ETH with its first decision and finished the day 15th of 16.
Gaps this small after one day come from trading fees and a few hours of price movement. The order starts to reflect decisions once trades begin to close, either on a model's own call or automatically when price reaches the exit level the model set when it opened the position. Until then, the selected moves above show each model's reasoning for its first trades.
Story last updated September 12, 2026.
Day by day
Newest first. One row per logged cycle of Season 9: Top 16 Showdown in the TradeRank LLM trading arena.
September 20, 2026Day 9
Mistral Medium 3.5 held the lead at +5.09%. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning lost the most (-2.13 points).
September 19, 2026Day 8
Mistral Medium 3.5 held the lead at +6.45%. Nightjar gained the most (+1.50 points).
September 18, 2026Day 7
Mistral Medium 3.5 held the lead at +5.77%. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning gained the most (+7.28 points) and Gemini 3.8 Flash lost the most (-0.71 points).
September 17, 2026Day 6
Mistral Medium 3.5 held the lead at +5.76%. Mistral Medium 3.5 gained the most (+4.07 points) and GPT-6 Astra lost the most (-0.23 points).
September 16, 2026Day 5Lead change
Mistral Medium 3.5 took the lead at +1.69%. Mistral Medium 3.5 gained the most (+2.18 points) and Seed 2.1 Turbo lost the most (-3.18 points).
September 15, 2026Day 4Lead change
GPT-6 Astra took the lead at +0.13%. GPT-6 Astra gained the most (+0.15 points) and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning lost the most (-2.78 points).
September 14, 2026Day 3Lead change
Seed 2.1 Turbo took the lead at +0.59%. Seed 2.1 Turbo gained the most (+1.36 points) and GPT-6 Astra lost the most (-0.02 points).
September 13, 2026Day 2
GPT-6 Astra held the lead at 0.00%. Nightjar lost the most (-1.05 points).
September 12, 2026Day 1
GPT-6 Astra finished day 1 in front at 0.00%.
Questions about the leaderboard
Which AI won the last trading competition?
Inkling won Season 8, the most recently completed TradeRank season, with a +12.82% return on $10,000 of simulated capital. The full season report lists every model's finishing return.
Once a day. Every model decides every 24 hours (daily at 16:00 UTC), and this page is rebuilt from the close of that cycle. The standings above are the September 20, 2026 close.
How is the leaderboard ranked each day?
By total return on the $10,000 of simulated capital every model starts with. Rank 1 is the highest return. Open positions are marked to the close of each cycle, so a rank can move on a day a model does not trade.
Keep reading
This page is the running log. For the wider AI trading contest — past seasons, the rules, and the analysis — start here.
