How To Use ChatGPT for Crypto Research

ChatGPT is a powerful AI chatbot that can be used for crypto research. It can help simplify your understanding of complex crypto terms you might not be familiar with. If used correctly, you can even prompt ChatGPT to help you analyze complex information like whitepapers and tokenomics.

Key Takeaways

• ChatGPT is an efficient AI language chatbot that can be used for many purposes, including research and education. 

• You can use informational, instructional, opinion-based, and role-play prompts to aid you in your research.

• Used correctly, ChatGPT can help you simplify complex terms, review whitepapers, analyze tokenomics and the background of founders, and plan a detailed crypto study plan.

• While ChatGPT is a great tool to help your research, it is important to supplement your findings with up-to-date information from reputable sources.

Introduction To ChatGPT 

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is an AI language model that is able to produce human-like text. Trained on a vast corpus of internet text, ChatGPT is knowledgeable in a wide range of topics and used by many in their day-to-day life. Today, the site estimates that it has almost 100 million active users.

Through machine learning algorithms, ChatGPT is able to understand and generate text based on the input it receives (prompts), allowing the model to answer a large range of questions. 

As of 23 June 2023, ChatGPT has two different models – GPT-3.5 and GPT-4.0. While GPT-3.5 is available for all users, only ChatGPT Plus users can access GPT-4.0. While GPT-3.5 should be sufficient for most users, it may be worth investing in GPT-4.0 for more in-depth research. For the purpose of this article, I will be using GPT-3.5 as it’s freely available.

Before we take a more in-depth look at using ChatGPT, let’s start with understanding how ChatGPT prompts work.

Understanding ChatGPT Prompts

ChatGPT Prompts refer to the input given to the model, which can be questions, statements, or requests. Before we go into specifics about how ChatGPT can aid you in your research, it is helpful to understand the different types of prompts you can use and how to structure them. 

While there are many different prompts, the relevant prompts for crypto research are informational, instructional, opinion-based, and role-play prompts.

Informational Prompts

You can use informational prompts to seek factual information and explain concepts. These prompts are used for general research purposes, like the definition of specific terms or the explanation behind how a particular mechanism might work. 

Example Prompts: 

• In crypto, what is staking, and is it profitable?

• What are gas fees? 

• What is a flash loan, and how does it affect a token’s price?

Instructional Prompts

These prompts are used to instruct the bot to perform a task, which can include reviewing whitepapers, summarizing information, or analyzing tokenomics. 

Example Prompts: 

• Summarize the key points of the BNB whitepaper.

• Analyze the tokenomics of the BLUR ecosystem. 

• Provide me an analysis of the Ethereum Triple Halving on its impact on its price.

Opinion-based Prompts 

Opinion-based prompts discuss the pros and cons of a project. While ChatGPT does not have opinions or thoughts, it is able to come up with a list of advantages and disadvantages based on known perspectives. 

Example Prompts: 

• What are the pros and cons of investing in initial coin offerings? 

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a cold wallet? 

• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a proof-of-stake system.

Role-play prompts

Role-play prompts are used to ask ChatGPT to role-play a particular person or persona. While the answers do not come from the person directly, the AI comes up with a response that aligns with their public opinions and way of speech.

Example Prompts:

• Act as Vitalik Buterin and criticize the tokenomics of X.

• Pretend you are Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple. Explain your vision for Ripple.

• Acting as Warren Buffett, express your thoughts on crypto.

Now, let’s dive into how we can utilize ChatGPT prompts to aid us in our crypto research.

1. Simplifying Complex Terms and Topics  

The world of cryptocurrency is constantly evolving, and there may be complicated concepts and terms we come across and do not understand. With ChatGPT, you can prompt the model to simplify them into digestible bites of information.

Informational and instructional prompts you can use:

• Explain Bitcoin mining to me in simpler terms 

• Could you explain ‘cryptographic hash function’ in a way a teenager would understand?

• Tell me about ‘proof of work‘ as if I were a complete beginner in crypto

• I have intermediate cryptocurrency knowledge. Explain liquidity pools to me. 

As ChatGPT is only trained up till September 2021, you will need to prompt ChatGPT on the subject matter before it is able to simplify the terms for you. To do this, you can use any high-level resources such as CoinGecko Learn.

For example, if you want to train ChatGPT about Account Abstraction, you can copy and paste CoinGecko’s article about AA into ChatGPT. 

2. Reviewing Whitepapers

Whitepapers are important reports of crypto projects issued by the team behind the project. They include in-depth information about the utility, tokenomics, roadmap, and any relevant information about the project. For investors, reviewing the whitepaper of a crypto project is crucial as it provides essential information about the project, helping investors to make informed decisions.

Step 1: Manually Input Whitepaper Into ChatGPT

As the current version of ChatGPT does not have access to internet browsing, you will need to manually copy and paste the project’s whitepaper into the model. If the paper is too long, you might need to separate the whitepaper into paragraphs, as ChatGPT has a word limit. It is also good to note that while GPT-4 has much better processing skills, the model has a much shorter word limit. 

If manually inputting the whitepaper into ChatGPT is too taxing, an alternative you can use is Bard, Google’s AI chatbot. As Bard can connect to the internet, you would only need to input the link to the whitepaper rather than manually copying it.

Step 2: Whitepaper Summary

For the purpose of this article, I will be using the Bitcoin whitepaper. After entering the whitepaper into ChatGPT, the model will respond with a summary. Here is a short snippet of GPT-3.5’s response: 

Step 3: Prompt ChatGPT For Relevant Information

As mentioned, the most relevant prompts for crypto research are informational, instructional, opinion-based, and role-play prompts. We want to get as much relevant information as possible from a whitepaper. 

To do this, we can use the following prompts: 

• Can you give me an overview of this whitepaper? 

• Give me an overview of ‘X’s roadmap.

• Can you explain to me the utility of the token? 

• List the pros and cons of ‘X’ 

• Explain to me how ‘X’ works. 

• Explain the economics of ‘X’ to me

• What are the risks associated with this token? 

• Act as Vitalik Buterin and criticize the tokenomics of ‘X’

If there is any part you do not understand or are confused about, you can ask follow-up questions to ChatGPT or use the aforementioned prompts to simplify complex terms. 

For example, if you are confused about the ‘medium of exchange’ of Bitcoin’s utility, you can further prompt ChatGPT to explain it in further detail.

Other follow-up prompts you can use: 

• Explain ‘X’ in further detail to me. 

• Can you provide a real-life example or use case to explain ‘X’?

• How does ‘X’ work step-by-step? 

• How does ‘X’ contribute to the overall functionality of ‘Y’? 

• Explain the relationship between ‘X’ and ‘Y.’

3. Analyze Tokenomics 

You can also use ChatGPT as a tokenomics analysis tool. Before we start, we would need to train ChatGPT to become well-versed with tokenomics and its implications. Here are two different prompts you can utilize: 

4/19
… project’s mechanisms and you will tell me the unique value propositions and mechanics of the project first in a summary form, then in an in-depth technical form. You can ask me any further questions about the project if you’d like to elaborate deeper.

— Surf (@0xsurferboy) March 31, 2023

Allocation & Distribution

How are the initial tokens distributed? There are roughly 2 ways:

Pre Mined:

1. The team distributes tokens to itself.
2. Distribution to insiders such as the team and venture capitalists

Fair Launch:

100% fair. Everyone has equal access.

Why…

— hoeem (@crypthoem) May 29, 2023

After you have done this process, you would need to manually input the relevant documents for ChatGPT to analyze.

After you have done this, we can use the following prompts: 

• Give me a general overview of the tokenomics of ‘X’ 

• What is the total, circulating, and maximum supply? 

• What is the marketcap? 

• Explain in detail the token allocation process and their vesting schedule.

• What is the utility of this token? 

• Explain the inflationary and deflationary mechanisms of ‘X’ 

• Does ‘X’ play a role in the governance of the project?   

• Is there anything that investors should know before investing in this token?

4. Analyze the Background Of Founders

Analyzing the background and credibility of a project’s founder is an important part of assessing a project’s potential. Often, having a reliable team in the crypto space is what would make or break a project. 

To analyze the background of a team, we can use the following prompts: 

• Provide an overview of the team behind ‘X.’ 

• What previous experience does the founder X have in the crypto space? 

• Tell me about notable achievements that the team behind X has accomplished. 

•  Has the team been involved in any scandals? 

• Is there anything investors should know about the team before investing in this token?

While ChatGPT can provide a general overview of the team and background of the founders, ChatGPT is not updated with any information after September 2021. They would not know about recent developments in the crypto space, so it is important to do your own research.

5. Planning A Detailed Cryptocurrency Study Plan

ChatGPT can also be used as a tool to help you create a comprehensive study plan for learning about the different aspects of crypto. 

To do this, we can use the following prompts: 

• Plan a comprehensive one-week study plan for learning everything about yield farming. 

• I am a beginner in crypto. Suggest a comprehensive study plan for me. 

• Suggest a comprehensive study plan for an intermediate learner in NFTs. 

• Provide me with a weekly study schedule about the different trading strategies.

• Break down the complex of crypto mining into smaller digestible topics for me to study.

After you have completed your study plan, you can also ask ChatGPT to come up with some questions to test your understanding of the topic.  

For example, if you are interested in learning about different blockchain platforms: 

ChatGPT will respond with a general listicle of study chapters you can focus on. You should then further prompt the model to provide a more detailed and in-depth guide about the different aspects that you can focus on.

ChatGPT will then respond with a much more detailed list of topics, in which you can refer to online resources to further your understanding. You can also check out our page ‘ CoinGecko Learn.’

Limitations of ChatGPT

Currently, ChatGPT cannot access the internet, and its data is only updated until September 2021. In addition, as ChatGPT functions on a prediction model, ChatGPT might also provide biased or incorrect information based on previously collected data. To combat this, it is important to cross-reference up-to-date market information from other sources. 

Final Thoughts

For now, while ChatGPT is a great tool for helping you with your crypto research, the model has limitations and should not be used as a standalone tool for your research. While the current version we are usually right now is still unable to surf the web by itself, ChatGPT is currently rolling out plug-ins.

As we speak, Defilama is in the midst of beta testing its plug-in, which can help users access current and historical data on blockchains on ChatGPT. This is an exciting advancement, and it is interesting to see how AI and cryptocurrency will interact in the future.