THE IMPACT OF SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER ON GREEN CRYPTOCURRENCIES

Abstract

Purpose- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which arises during the winter when there are fewer daylight hours is a form of the major depressive disease. SAD affects most of the financial markets. Since there is scarce research on the relationship between SAD and cryptocurrency returns, this study is aimed to examine the impact of SAD on green cryptocurrencies. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the relationship between SAD and the returns of green cryptocurrencies, so the study is expected to fill the gap in the related literature. Methodology- Cardano (ADA), Tron (TRX), and Stellar (XLM) are considered for the analysis, which covers the period spanning from January 2018 to March 2023. The multiple regression model has been implemented by including dummies for autumn, Mondays, and tax-loss selling. A specific location must be specified for the latitude information to determine how many hours are spent at night. The latitude of New York City is considered for that calculation because the majority of cryptocurrency users are concentrated in the USA. Findings- The findings demonstrate that the SAD, autumn, Monday, and tax-loss selling effects have no impact on green cryptocurrencies. Due to the worldwide spread of cryptocurrency investors, these effects are probably mitigated. Conclusion- According to the results, arbitrageurs are unable to benefit from generating abnormal returns using seasonal return patterns. Future studies might use non-linear techniques, change the location that is considered when calculating latitude, and include more cryptocurrencies in their examinations. Keywords: Seasonal affective disorder, cryptocurrencies, green finance, behavioral finance, anomalies. JEL Codes: G10, G40, G41