  Are cryptocurrency traders driven by a desire to invest in a new asset class
to diversify their portfolio or are they merely seeking to increase their
levels of risk? To answer this question, we use individual-level brokerage data
and study their behavior in stock trading around the time they engage in their
first cryptocurrency trade. We find that when engaging in cryptocurrency
trading investors simultaneously increase their risk-seeking behavior in stock
trading as they increase their trading intensity and use of leverage. The
increase in risk-seeking in stocks is particularly pronounced when volatility
in cryptocurrency returns is low, suggesting that their overall behavior is
driven by excitement-seeking.
