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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 No virus woes for bitcoin as it climbs to highest since November last year
Tokens representing bitcoin rest on US dollar bills in an arranged photograph taken on Monday. Photo: Reuters
/ Bloomberg
There is one asset escaping the pounding from the spreading coronavirus: bitcoin.
The largest cryptocurrency yesterday rose as high as US$9,142.80, a level last seen in early November last year. Other coins rallied as well, with the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index gaining as much as 1.7 percent to more than a two-month high.
The increases come after last week’s poor performance in the run-up to Lunar New Year celebrations, which some participants expected to trigger a slowdown in trading.
Potential explanations for the rally include bitcoin’s potential new safe-haven status amid risk-off moves fueled by the spread of the virus.
JPMorgan Chase & Co’s Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou last week said that options on the cryptocurrency are “off to a decent start.”
“Some hedge funds who do not necessarily have a fundamental view on bitcoin direction could see opportunities in trading volatility,” Panigirtzoglou wrote in a note on Friday. “The CME’s reputation and credibility in US derivatives markets more broadly could be a substantial advantage in attracting those potential market participants.”
Nomura Securities International Inc’s Charlie McElligott in a note on Monday pointed to US five-year real yields at the most negative since April 2017 “acting as a major bullish catalyst for gold and bitcoin.”
Of course, bitcoin is also famously volatile, having gone parabolic in late 2017 to reach about US$19,000, before tumbling back over the course of the next year.
It had quite a ride even last year, having started the year just above US$3,000 and spiking to nearly US$14,000 in June before ending last month at US$7,158.
Gold is once again showcasing its long-standing reputation as an effective haven in troubled times, trading near the highest close in more than six years on rising concern over the economic and human effects of the deadly viral outbreak in China.
Bullion was steady after surging on Monday as investors weighed the fallout from the spread of the disease.
Bullion is up more than 4 percent this year, benefiting from the flight to haven assets, while equities have swooned along with industrial commodities.
The virus-driven “selloff in equity markets will likely drive gold demand over the short term,” AxiCorp Financial Services Pty chief market strategist Stephen Innes said. “The more rapid pace of contagion will represent another significant headwind to global growth, bullish for gold.”
Spot gold traded at US$1,578.60 an ounce at in London after closing at US$1,582.06 on Monday, the highest since April 2013.
On an intraday basis, bullion briefly topped US$1,600 earlier this month on US-Iranian tensions.
Among other main precious metals, silver fell 0.4 percent, platinum gained 0.5 percent, and palladium rallied 2.7 percent following a 6.6 percent slump on Monday.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
