Bitcoin (BTC) Tipped to Not Just Survive But Thrive Amidst Market Panic

Technologist and futurist at Thomson Reuters, Joseph Racynski, noted that in the current climate institutional investors were quick to dump Bitcoin.

“The reason for the drop in BTC price is a direct result of institutions unloading the coin in a rush to cash as soon as the virus impact was identified. It happened across all assets, but what it proved was that institutions actually did invest over the last few years in crypto,” he said.

However just half the panel (50%) say the decline is a result of Bitcoin’s failure to hold its price as traditional markets drop, suggesting Bitcoin might not be simply mirroring the equities market.

Either way, recent price movements have impacted Bitcoin’s viability as a safe haven asset, according to a panel majority (60%).

Managing director at Rogue International, Desmond Marshall, said techies and coin buyers wishfully hope Bitcoin could become a safe haven asset like gold.

Meanwhile, co-founder of Finder, Fred Schebesta, said that a short-term correlation with traditional assets does not diminish Bitcoin’s status as a safe haven asset.

“Aside from gold, the list of alternative assets to consider as a hedge against uncertainty in the global markets are far and few between. To me, Bitcoin remains one of the most attractive assets to help diversify a portfolio looking to hedge risk in the coming years,” he said.

Managing director at Digital Capital Management, Ben Ritchie, conceded that Bitcoin is currently seen as a high risk asset but argued it could be a safe haven down the track.

“Bitcoin is being positioned as a future safe haven but currently is considered as a high risk asset,” he said.

“The recent short-term liquidity impact contributed to its correlation to equity markets and does not impact its future viability to become a safe haven. It continues to trade more in line with risk assets than safe havens, which is consistent with its performance to date in periods of extreme market volatility… It is interesting to note that even gold has suffered from violent price fluctuations recently dropping approximately 12% before bouncing off its 50-week moving average.”

While the panel was divided on the future of Bitcoin, they largely agreed that market conditions will eclipse any hype as a result of the halving.

COO and co-founder at MarketOrders, Julia Sukhi, was just one of two panelists (20%) to say recession fears won’t nullify hype around the halving.

“As markets become weaker and chaotic, there will be certainty in the BTC markets in terms of the halving, so more attention will be attracted to this event,” she said.

You can view the full report here.

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Author, Susannah Binsted

Susannah Binsted is the Global PR Manager at Finder. Susannah has a Bachelor of Communication and a Bachelor of International Studies from the University of Technology Sydney.

Co-author, Richard Laycock

Richard Laycock is Finder’s insights editor after spending the last five years writing and editing articles about insurance. His musings can be found across the web including on MoneyMag, Yahoo Finance and Travel Weekly. When he’s not doing deep dives on data, he is testing the quality of cocktails in his newfound home of New York. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University and The Missouri School of Journalism and has a Tier 1 Certification in General Advice for Life Insurance.