It’s not just stocks that have plummeted. BTC and other cryptocurrencies are falling as I write this
It’s been an epic week. The world has basically shut down. This new pandemic has accelerated so quickly that it’s hard to reconcile. People around the world are suddenly work-from-home status, and many of those who can’t are forced into taking their vacation days and many are getting laid off.
But it isn’t just the small and medium-sized business around the world that are taking the brunt of the damage. Bitcoin, incredibly, lost half of its value in just one day. It was previously over the 10k mark and expected to make a bull-run towards 20k, but since mid-February, it slowly made its way back down to the 8k range before plummeting on March 12th to $4000.00. Luckily it recovered about 50% of its loss and bounced back to $6000. But again fell another 18%.
A Safe-Haven Asset
Bitcoin prices were expected to soar with the investors moving money out of their stocks and bonds and into cryptos. Those who have dubbed BTC a safe-haven asset for years were finally thinking that now was BTC’s time to shine. Obviously, the real economic issues have just started, so there is still plenty of time for BTC and other cryptos to prove their backers right. But for the moment, experts and analysts are in full nay-say mode, rejecting the idea of BTC being any sort of safe-haven for our investments.
Peter Brandt recently tweeted out that the new floor is -$1000. So, if he’s correct, we could see a whole new crash coming. If you remember, Brandt was the one that predicted the 2017 spike. So, he has a history of calling it how it’s going to happen, or perhaps it’s an Allen Greenspan thing, where the market follows what he says because he said it.
If you believe this you might want to utilize some of your BTC now. Online sportsbooks accept Bitcoin. At least this way, you can instantly put them into dollars and keep the money working for you. If the price seems like it’s going to stabilize, you can transfer the funds back into your BTC wallet in a matter of minutes.
CoinTelegraph just posted that the Coronavirus Financial Crash is BTC’s Biggest Test lining out BitMEX report that Inflation is Coming. In summary, they compare this event to the 2000 DotCom crash. That said, even though this may be BTC’s biggest challenge, it’s also its biggest opportunity.
“In our view, in this changed economic regime, where the economy and financial markets are set loose, with no significant anchor at all, not even inflation targeting, it could be the biggest opportunity Bitcoin has seen, in its short lifetime.”
But even as BTC drops, Stablecoin and USDC have gained significant market share. USD Coin reached a record high of 568 million dollars. Other big names in the crypto world such as Ethereum and Litecoin are down as well. But not nearly as much as the mother of them all, BTC, as of Monday, LTC is down around 8% but close to 50% since the beginning of March and Ether about 12%. As of March 11th ETC was hovering around $6.50 and since it plummeted down $3.48 on March 12, it has climbed back more than a dollar to $4.54. Sunday/Monday saw prices as high as $5.15.
Will BTC prove it’s worth?
Well, it may. There is not much more the Central Banks can do. The FED already slashed interest rates to near zero. Snatching up more debt won’t be helpful. And with inflation predicted to set in – not just some inflation, but a shocking amount will BTC be the answer? Gold and like commodities are looking like a safe bet, but can BTC shine?
We’ll have to wait and see.
