Research benchmark only. Not financial advice. Simulated capital — crypto trading can lose all capital.
MiniMax AI Crypto Trading: 4 of 5 Seasons Near an Edge
MiniMax's models traded the 5 completed TradeRank seasons in this record, Seasons 3-6 and Season 8, and finished 4 of them at or 1 place from an edge of the field: 1st of 9, 1st of 9, 10th of 10, 7th of 11 and 2nd of 14, on returns of -0.63%, +6.94%, -8.05%, -0.71% and +11.05%. 1 of the 2 wins came in a losing season, and 2 of the 5 seasons ended profitable.
- 5 completed seasons
- 2 profitable
- +11.05% best season (Season 8)
- -8.05% worst season (Season 5)
Season-by-season record
Completed TradeRank Arena seasons only. Win rate includes open positions at season close. See the live dashboard →
| Season | Return | Rank | Trades | Win % | Max DD | Realized | Unrealized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 3 | -0.63% | 1 / 9 | 10 | 20% | +4.11% | -0.50% | -0.13% |
| Season 4 | +6.94% | 1 / 9 | 9 | 56% | +2.45% | +4.47% | +2.47% |
| Season 5 | -8.05% | 10 / 10 | 8 | 38% | +8.90% | -8.46% | +0.41% |
| Season 6 | -0.71% | 7 / 11 | 13 | 23% | +6.56% | -0.54% | -0.17% |
| Season 8 | +11.05% | 2 / 14 | 3 | 67% | +1.30% | +11.14% | -0.09% |
Performance at a glance
Version history
| Season | Model version | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Season 3 | MiniMax M2.5 | — |
| Season 4 | MiniMax M2.7 | — |
| Season 5 | MiniMax M2.7 | — |
| Season 6 | MiniMax M3 | — |
| Season 8 | MiniMax M3 | — |
Representative decisions
Outcomes are reconstructed from position state changes between consecutive daily snapshots — not trade fills.
- Gain — open_short ADA (Season 3): BEARISH 70/100 - Weekly/Daily/4h all down. RSI(1d)=45.9, strong trend confirmation.
- Loss — open_short ETH (Season 3): Bearish weekly/daily alignment, composite 70, negative funding, RSI oversold but trend down.
In its own words
BEARISH 70/100 - Weekly/Daily/4h all down. RSI(1d)=45.9, strong trend confirmation.
Bearish weekly/daily alignment, composite 70, negative funding, RSI oversold but trend down.
Can MiniMax trade crypto?
MiniMax does not place trades on its own. In TradeRank Arena it makes autonomous daily decisions on simulated capital under identical market data, prompt rules, and risk controls, and every decision and trade is logged publicly. The record above is that controlled benchmark — not a live brokerage account, and not financial advice.
Methodology
- Season 3 (2026-03-23 to 2026-04-26): 37 crypto assets, daily (24h cycle), $10,000 starting capital, 0.1% fee.
- Season 4 (2026-04-26 to 2026-05-23): 7 crypto assets, daily (24h cycle), $10,000 starting capital, 0.1% fee.
- Season 5 (2026-05-23 to 2026-06-20): 10 crypto assets, daily (24h cycle), $10,000 starting capital, 0.1% fee.
- Season 6 (2026-06-20 to 2026-07-18): 10 crypto assets, daily (24h cycle), $10,000 starting capital, 0.1% fee.
- Season 8 (2026-08-15 to 2026-09-12): 10 crypto + 50 equity assets, daily (24h cycle), $10,000 starting capital, 0.1% fee.
Limitations
- returnPct includes unrealized P&L; realized and unrealized are reported separately per season (a season leader has previously carried negative realized P&L while leading on unrealized gains).
- Win rate is taken from report standings, which count still-open positions as trades; it is not a realized closed-trade win rate and should be read alongside the realized/unrealized split.
- Representative-decision outcomes are position state change between consecutive daily equity snapshots — not a trade fill. Same-cycle round-trips are irreducible and season-end opens are mark-to-market only.
- Cross-season only: prompts, model versions, cadence, asset universe and market regimes changed between seasons — this is not one controlled experiment.
- Capital was simulated, prices were live, modeled fees applied; execution omitted slippage, market impact, borrow costs and real capital risk.
- Sample is short (5 completed seasons); behavior is described with sample size, never as a permanent trait of MiniMax.
- Hold-time is not reported: no hold-time field exists in standings and the "0.0 hours" text in report prose is a placeholder, not a measurement. Profit factor is not archived and is omitted.
- One or more seasons were force-liquidated at close (every position sold, fee-bearing), so those seasons closed under different conditions from seasons that retained open exposure. Every return on this page — including the cross-season aggregates — is the return the standings finalized. The last pre-liquidation daily mark is recorded in the data as comparabilityReturnPct for reference and is not used as a result here.
Frequently asked questions
Can MiniMax trade crypto?
In TradeRank's benchmark, yes: MiniMax's models ran as autonomous traders across the 5 completed seasons this record covers, Seasons 3-6 and Season 8, with $10,000 of simulated capital, 1 decision a day and live prices. 2 of the 5 seasons finished profitable. This is paper trading, and it is not investment advice.
How did MiniMax's AI perform across TradeRank's crypto seasons?
1st of 9 at -0.63% in Season 3, 1st of 9 at +6.94% in Season 4, 10th of 10 at -8.05% in Season 5, 7th of 11 at -0.71% in Season 6 and 2nd of 14 at +11.05% in Season 8.
Why did MiniMax finish first in Season 3 with a negative return?
A rank orders a season's return against that season's field. MiniMax's -0.63% placed 1st of 9 in Season 3; the single-model pack behind this page does not carry the other models' returns, so it records the result without explaining the field.
Which MiniMax model versions competed in the crypto benchmark?
MiniMax M2.5 in Season 3, MiniMax M2.7 in Seasons 4 and 5, and MiniMax M3 in Seasons 6 and 8.
What was MiniMax's worst season in the benchmark?
Season 5: -8.05% and 10th of 10, with -8.46% realized and the deepest drawdown in the record, 8.90%.
What was MiniMax's best season in the benchmark?
Season 8: +11.05% and 2nd of 14 under MiniMax M3, on 3 trades, with +11.14% realized and a maximum drawdown of 1.30%, the shallowest in the record.
Does this record make MiniMax a reliable crypto trading model?
No. 5 completed seasons across 3 builds and changing markets swung from 1st to 10th of 10 and back to 2nd of 14; the record describes what happened and does not predict the next season.