While the stock markets across the world are recording historic declines, the situation is not much different in the crypto world, which would explain why Bitcoin has been dropping as of late. On Thursday, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency by market cap plunged at an alarming rate.
Panic Selling
The coronavirus pandemic has had a volatile effect on the world economy, and markets across the globe experienced mass selloffs as fears about the damage finally took hold. BTC slumped by 25% on Thursday morning as investors continued to dump it. Although it did claw back some of the losses, BTC was still down by 22% and trading at $6,218 each.
The BTC losses recorded today were its biggest one-day losses in half a decade, and it remains to be seen whether this selloff is going to continue over the coming days. Currently, there is no end to the coronavirus in sight, and it is likely that markets are going to be in turmoil for quite some time. However, it is also important to point out that the crash is not only restricted to BTC; it has hit across a wide range of cryptocurrencies.
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Over the past five days, BTC has lost 30% and has, in fact, outpaced the losses that were recorded by other asset classes, such as stocks and oil. The portfolio manager of the crypto firm NKB stated that, currently, a lot of ‘de-risking’ is going on across asset classes, and BTC is not immune from that particular phenomenon.
Due to the current situation brought about by the coronavirus, investors are fast moving away from risky assets, and it is believed that such a move has affected the price of Bitcoin considerably. It remains to be seen how long it takes for the situation to improve.
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