In times of economic turmoil and global uncertainty, mainstream media in the UK is turning its attention back to Bitcoin. The number-one cryptocurrency has stolen headlines from COVID-19 after a 12% jump over the weekend.
Bitcoin Is Commanding Investor Attention Once More
An article in the UK’s Daily Express noted Bitcoin’s impressive blast through $7K even amid coronavirus fears. It then lost no opportunity to remind readers that Bitcoin must always and only be associated with scams. The very headline reads:
Bitcoin price breaks $7k amid coronavirus crisis after investors warned about scam
The rise in BTC investment was, apparently, due to investors who were:
encouraged by some early signs lockdowns in many countries could be lifted soon as cases and death rates slow.
The article then goes on to focus on a Bitcoin-related scam during the time of COVID-19. Apparently some bad actors posing as WHO officials were offering a fake list of people infected with coronavirus in their communities in exchange for BTC.
Bitcoin scams aside, there have been countless cybersecurity threats targeting people during the pandemic, most of them after sensitive data and not related to cryptocurrency.
And actually, it’s not just the mainstream media that’s allocating some time for Bitcoin. Google searches for Bitcoin are returning to their previous levels as well as investors seek to diversify their portfolios.
Safe Haven or Risk Asset?
It should be noted that the stock markets also saw significant gains during the same period. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed more than 7% higher on Monday, at 22,679.99, while the S&P 500 also gained 7% and the Nasdaq Composite surged 7.3%.
Analysts have also attributed this to the fact the new coronavirus cases in the U.S. seem to be slowing down. This led leading Bitcoin trader and analyst Alex Kruger to comment that the cryptocurrency markets and stocks are still “spasmodically correlated.”
Crypto assets continue to be spasmodically correlated with stocks.
— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) April 7, 2020
However, let’s take a deeper look at the gains posted by major asset classes. On-chain analyst and Hypersheet co-founder Willy Woo plotted the percentage gains and losses of Bitcoin versus other assets.
And they told me Bitcoin was a risky volatile asset…
(Plotted in log charts so % gains/losses are proportional within each respective sparkline) pic.twitter.com/qxC1xF8cay
— Willy Woo (@woonomic) April 7, 2020
He then added in the comments:
Do I think BTC is exhibiting safe haven properties?
Yes.
As billionaire investor Mike Novogratz commented, this should be the year for Bitcoin as a hard asset. He believes that BTC price will double in the next six months due to the excess of fiat being printed that will lead to its devaluation.
The public is starting to wonder where all this money is coming from and getting more curious about their alternatives. Now is Bitcoin’s time to shine.
Do you think a Bitcoin bull run is imminent this month? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
Images via Shutterstock, Twitter @woonomic @Krugermacro
