Correlation Analysis of Social Media Sentiment on Short-Term Bitcoin Price Movements
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/9a86js54Keywords:
Bitcoin; social media sentiment; short-term price; non-linear relationship; machine learning.Abstract
With the rapid development of digital finance, social media sentiment has gradually become a potential driver of cryptocurrency price fluctuations, but its impact mechanism on the short-term price of Bitcoin has not been fully explored. This article takes Reddit comment sentiment data from August to September 2021 and Bitcoin's short-term price (daily closing price) as a sample and explores the linear and nonlinear relationship between the two. Through correlation matrix, linear regression and generalised addability model (GAM) analysis, it is found that there is a weak positive linear correlation between emotion and price (Pearson coefficient = 0.3017, p<0.001), and there is a significant nonlinear effect (the intensity of emotional influence varies with the market state). The Granger causal test confirms that emotions have a one-way causal relationship with the price of Bitcoin. Further verification of the machine learning model, such as random forest, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and the inclusion of emotional variables can improve the accuracy of price prediction. This study enriches the literature in the field of cryptocurrency market behaviour finance and provides an empirical basis for investors and regulators to monitor market sentiment risks.
Downloads
References
[1] Farell R. An analysis of the cryptocurrency industry. University of Pennsylvania Doctoral Dissertation, 2015.
[2] Ciaian P, Rajcaniova M, Kancs D A. The economics of BitCoin price formation. Applied Economics, 2016, 48(19): 1799-1815. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2015.1109038
[3] Huang Q. Bitcoin price prediction based on fear & greed index. SHS Web of Conferences, 2024, 181: 02015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202418102015
[4] Baig A, Blau B M, Sabah N. Price clustering and sentiment in bitcoin. Finance Research Letters, 2019, 29: 111-116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2019.03.013
[5] López-Cabarcos M Á, Pérez-Pico A M, Piñeiro-Chousa J, Šević A. Bitcoin volatility, stock market and investor sentiment. Are they connected?. Finance Research Letters, 2021, 38: 101399. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2019.101399
[6] Naeem M A, Mbarki I, Shahzad S J H. Predictive role of online investor sentiment for cryptocurrency market: Evidence from happiness and fears. International Review of Economics & Finance, 2021, 73: 496-514. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2021.01.008
[7] Dixon M F, Halperin I. The four horsemen of machine learning in finance. SSRN Working Paper, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3453564
[8] Welch I, Goyal A. A comprehensive look at the empirical performance of equity premium prediction. The Review of Financial Studies, 2008, 21(4): 1455-1508. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhm014
[9] Li Xingyi, Li Zhongfei, Li Qiqian, Liu Yujun, Tang Wenjin. Overview of the research on asset return prediction based on machine learning. China Management Science, 2025, 33(1): 311-322.
[10] Kristoufek L. BitCoin meets Google Trends and Wikipedia: Quantifying the relationship between phenomena of the Internet era. Scientific Reports, 2013, 3(1): 3415. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep03415
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Academic Journal of Management and Social Sciences

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

