Journal of Digital Market and Digital Currency
Vol. 3 No. 2 (2026): Regular Issue June 2026

A Reinforcement Learning Approach to Bitcoin Trading: Proximal Policy Optimization with Trend-Following and Risk-Aware Reward Design

Victor Vladareanu (Robotics and Mechatronics Department, Institute of Solid Mechanics of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania)



Article Info

Publish Date
22 May 2026

Abstract

This study proposes a reinforcement learning based trading strategy for Bitcoin using Proximal Policy Optimization with a trend following and risk aware reward design. The model is developed within a custom trading environment that incorporates multiple technical indicators, including trend, momentum, and volatility features, to capture market dynamics. A continuous action space is employed to enable flexible portfolio allocation between cash and Bitcoin, allowing the agent to learn dynamic position sizing rather than discrete buy or sell decisions. The reward function is designed to encourage profit generation while penalizing excessive risk, trading activity, and drawdowns. The proposed model is evaluated on historical Bitcoin data and compared with a Buy and Hold baseline using metrics such as total return, Sharpe ratio, maximum drawdown, trading frequency, and transaction costs. The results show that while the PPO strategy does not outperform Buy and Hold in terms of total return, it achieves superior risk adjusted performance with a higher Sharpe ratio and more stable portfolio growth. However, the model exhibits high trading frequency, leading to increased transaction costs that reduce overall profitability. These findings demonstrate that reinforcement learning offers a promising approach for developing adaptive and risk sensitive trading strategies, although further improvements are required to enhance trading efficiency and cost management.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

JDMDC

Publisher

Subject

Computer Science & IT Decision Sciences, Operations Research & Management Economics, Econometrics & Finance

Description

Journal of Digital Market and Digital Currency publishes high-quality research on: Digital Marketing Digital Currencies Cryptocurrency Trends Blockchain Applications Fintech Innovations Our goal is to provide a platform for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to share innovative findings, ...