Brian Armstrong, CEO of digital currency exchange Coinbase, says he’s surprised by Bitcoin’s massive retreat in the midst of a global financial meltdown. The longtime crypto entrepreneur says he would have bet that BTC would be rising as fallout from the coronavirus outbreak continues.
“Surprised we’re seeing the Bitcoin price fall in this environment, would have expected the opposite.”
Crypto enthusiasts have increasingly touted BTC as a form of digital gold that could potentially weather economic turmoil. The current downturn, which has pummeled the stock market, is putting crypto to the test.
Veteran financial analyst John Bollinger, who developed the technical analysis tool Bollinger Bands, also says he’s disappointed by BTC’s performance as a supposed hedge. He expected BTC to act as a safe haven and was caught off guard when the cryptocurrency sank.
“Bitcoin fall victim to the COVID-19 panic. I truly did not see that coming, I thought it might act as a safe haven asset.”
But Bloomberg business editor Joe Weisenthal says he’s not at all surprised by the Bitcoin crash, citing the power of human panic.
“When people are panicking, they liquidate anything in sight, so they can pay their fiat-denominated bills.”
As BTC fell below $8,000 on Monday, Nobel Prize-winning economist Nouriel Roubini confirmed that the leading cryptocurrency now fares worse than global equities.
“Another proof that Bitcoin is NOT a good hedge vs risky assets in risk-off episodes. It actually falls more than risky assets during risk-off. So BTC is a shitty shitcoin hedge in risk-off cases.”
Analyst Jacob Canfield is offering the optimist’s take: Bitcoin’s performance in 2020 remains stronger than most traditional assets.