HSE Researchers Find Counter-Strike Skins Outperform Bitcoin and Gold as Alternative Investments
Virtual knives, custom-painted machine guns, and gloves are common collectible items in videogames. A new study by scientists from HSE University suggests that digital skins from the popular video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) rank among the most profitable types of alternative investments, with average annual returns exceeding 40%. The study has been published in the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), a free-access online repository.
Investors have long sought after assets that are insulated from stock market fluctuations, especially during times of instability. This has fuelled a boom in alternative investments, with people putting their money into art, fine wine, and vintage cars. Videogame skins can now be confidently added to this list, offering not only aesthetic appeal but also impressive financial returns.
Skins are virtual items that alter the appearance of in-game objects, such as weapons or characters. While they don’t usually impact gameplay or a player’s chances of winning, they allow users to express their individuality. Skins range from simple designs to rare collectibles that can be bought, traded, or sold on specialised online platforms. The most sought-after and rare skins have become the foundation of a new investment trend.
The study by Victoria Dobrynskaya, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of HSE University, and Vladimir Strelnikov, her former student, now a master's student at New Economic School, suggests that digital collectibles from the videogame Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) can yield average annual returns of over 40%.
To assess the investment appeal of CS:GO skins, the researchers analysed data on nearly 5,000 unique in-game items traded on the Steam platform between 2013 and 2024.
The study found that skins are among the top-performing assets in terms of the risk–return ratio. The average annual return on a portfolio of skins was 41.2%, which is several times higher than that of the US stock market (CRSP), real estate (REITs), bonds or gold. While their profitability is comparable to Bitcoin, skins exhibit significantly lower volatility.
According to the analysis, the average skin price was $155, but the distribution was highly skewed, with most items priced significantly lower. The median price was just $11.50, while the most expensive skin in the Steam sample sold for nearly $4,000.
'On average, a skin is traded 800 times per month, with Steam charging a 15% fee on each transaction. As a result, frequent trading is generally unprofitable, making long-term investment in these assets optimal,' explain Dobrynskaya and Strelnikov.
'The Sharpe ratio for skins is 0.34, indicating a favourable return-to-risk profile. For comparison, during the same period, the Sharpe ratios were 0.25 for the CRSP, 0.12 for gold, and 0.21 for Bitcoin. A higher Sharpe ratio signifies better investment performance. While there are no guarantees, we have observed data spanning over a decade, during which most skins have steadily increased in value,' notes Dobrynskaya.
The skin market proved to be largely insensitive to market risks, with the most profitable assets being inexpensive items: common skins of around $2.25 in price generate average monthly returns of nearly 19%. In contrast, rare and expensive skins priced at around $1,700 yield monthly returns below 3%, which is still higher than the average returns of the stock market. As a result, strategies that prioritise marketable, liquid items rather than rare collectibles demonstrate the best performance.
'In-game collectibles are more than just pixels—they are genuine financial instruments that help diversify portfolios and hedge against volatility. At the same time, the market is liquid and transparent, with a capitalisation exceeding $4 billion. This market remains relatively unknown to outside investors, and most skin investments come from actual players. Long-term investment in skins is a common practice among them,' Dobrynskaya and Strelnikov comment.
See also:
Scientists Discover Why Parents May Favour One Child Over Another
An international team that included Prof. Marina Butovskaya from HSE University studied how willing parents are to care for a child depending on the child’s resemblance to them. The researchers found that similarity to the mother or father affects the level of care provided by parents and grandparents differently. Moreover, this relationship varies across Russia, Brazil, and the United States, reflecting deep cultural differences in family structures in these countries. The study's findings have been published in Social Evolution & History.
When a Virus Steps on a Mine: Ancient Mechanism of Infected Cell Self-Destruction Discovered
When a virus enters a cell, it disrupts the cell’s normal functions. It was previously believed that the cell's protective response to the virus triggered cellular self-destruction. However, a study involving bioinformatics researchers at HSE University has revealed a different mechanism: the cell does not react to the virus itself but to its own transcripts, which become abnormally long. The study has been published in Nature.
Researchers Identify Link between Bilingualism and Cognitive Efficiency
An international team of researchers, including scholars from HSE University, has discovered that knowledge of a foreign language can improve memory performance and increase automaticity when solving complex tasks. The higher a person’s language proficiency, the stronger the effect. The results have been published in the journal Brain and Cognition.
Artificial Intelligence Transforms Employment in Russian Companies
Russian enterprises rank among the world’s top ten leaders in AI adoption. In 2023, nearly one-third of domestic companies reported using artificial intelligence. According to a new study by Larisa Smirnykh, Professor at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences, the impact of digitalisation on employment is uneven: while the introduction of AI in small and large enterprises led to a reduction in the number of employees, in medium-sized companies, on the contrary, it contributed to job growth. The article has been published in Voprosy Ekonomiki.
Lost Signal: How Solar Activity Silenced Earth's Radiation
Researchers from HSE University and the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences analysed seven years of data from the ERG (Arase) satellite and, for the first time, provided a detailed description of a new type of radio emission from near-Earth space—the hectometric continuum, first discovered in 2017. The researchers found that this radiation appears a few hours after sunset and disappears one to three hours after sunrise. It was most frequently observed during the summer months and less often in spring and autumn. However, by mid-2022, when the Sun entered a phase of increased activity, the radiation had completely vanished—though the scientists believe the signal may reappear in the future. The study has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.
Banking Crises Drive Biodiversity Loss
Economists from HSE University, MGIMO University, and Bocconi University have found that financial crises have a significant negative impact on biodiversity and the environment. This relationship appears to be bi-directional: as global biodiversity declines, the likelihood of new crises increases. The study examines the status of populations encompassing thousands of species worldwide over the past 50 years. The article has been published in Economics Letters, an international journal.
Scientists Discover That the Brain Responds to Others’ Actions as if They Were Its Own
When we watch someone move their finger, our brain doesn’t remain passive. Research conducted by scientists from HSE University and Lausanne University Hospital shows that observing movement activates the motor cortex as if we were performing the action ourselves—while simultaneously ‘silencing’ unnecessary muscles. The findings were published in Scientific Reports.
Russian Scientists Investigate Age-Related Differences in Brain Damage Volume Following Childhood Stroke
A team of Russian scientists and clinicians, including Sofya Kulikova from HSE University in Perm, compared the extent and characteristics of brain damage in children who experienced a stroke either within the first four weeks of life or before the age of two. The researchers found that the younger the child, the more extensive the brain damage—particularly in the frontal and parietal lobes, which are responsible for movement, language, and thinking. The study, published in Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology, provides insights into how age can influence the nature and extent of brain lesions and lays the groundwork for developing personalised rehabilitation programmes for children who experience a stroke early in life.
Scientists Test Asymmetry Between Matter and Antimatter
An international team, including scientists from HSE University, has collected and analysed data from dozens of experiments on charm mixing—the process in which an unstable charm meson oscillates between its particle and antiparticle states. These oscillations were observed only four times per thousand decays, fully consistent with the predictions of the Standard Model. This indicates that no signs of new physics have yet been detected in these processes, and if unknown particles do exist, they are likely too heavy to be observed with current equipment. The paper has been published in Physical Review D.
HSE Scientists Reveal What Drives Public Trust in Science
Researchers at HSE ISSEK have analysed the level of trust in scientific knowledge in Russian society and the factors shaping attitudes and perceptions. It was found that trust in science depends more on everyday experience, social expectations, and the perceived promises of science than on objective knowledge. The article has been published in Universe of Russia.