Once again, Bitcoin is down this market cycle, resting at about $37,500 as of press time.
Omkar Godbole at Coindesk talks about the reasons for this, and the divergence between equities and safe haven assets, where Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies seem to be following the former, rather than the latter.
In early concerns about Federal Reserve action last year, it seemed like Bitcoin was becoming an alternative for traders fleeing a battered equities market, or worried about runaway inflation.
The fact that Bitcoin’s now trending down along with equities is concerning to a great number of crypto fans.
For reference, the S&P 500 is down 1%, and European stocks have similar drops.
Oil and gold, however, are up.
“In a tense situation, investors will prioritize commodities such as gold and crude oil rather than riskier stocks and cryptos,” said Griffin Ardern, a volatility trader from crypto-asset management company Blofin, as quoted in Godbole’s coverage.
Analysts including Godbole point to concerns about Ukraine as central to investor sentiment, and while some feel that these fears are overblown, others are positing actions that may eventually lead to what some call World War III.
“Should the conflict touch UK soil, Queen Elizabeth II, who has many planned speeches for major events, has one that she will read in the event that the British citizens face a nuclear war or World War III,” wrote Greg Evans at indy100 last week, contributing this snippet of the Queen’s planned soliloquoy:
“We all know that the dangers facing us today are greater by far than at any time in our long history. The enemy is not the soldier with his rifle nor even the airman prowling the skies above our cities and towns but the deadly power of abused technology.”
We’ll see how markets respond to changing dynamics in the geopolitical situation as the week progresses.