Stock Markets Sees Shutdowns, Will Bitcoin’s Free Market Sustain Coronavirus Attack?

The price action during the last day across assets have been violent. Bitcoin’s price witnessed massive price swings around eastern trading time on 13th March. BTC dropped to lows at $3600 followed by an instant push above $5,500.

The stocks markets, on the other hand, are witnessing brief shutdowns as the lower circuits in prices are hit. While the losses on commodities market where unpalatable, gold prices were far more stable holding above January 2020 levels at $1560.

Circuit Breakers Across Global Stock Markets

The Indian Stock Markets hit the lower trading circuits today as NIFTY 50 (equivalent of S&P 500) drops to 4 year lows since 2016. The lower circuit caused the trading to halt for 45 minutes so that traders could come to terms with their losses.

Similar situation happened yesterday on the US stock market when the trading was halted for minutes after opening bells.

#MarketSlump | #Nifty hits lower circuit, trading halted for 45 mins#CoronavirusPandemic#CoronavirusOutbreak#COVID19india pic.twitter.com/7895RkZAcc

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 13, 2020

Moreover, the virus continues to spread showing no signs of relief.

Coronavirus Update

The death toll in Italy has increased almost 10 fold within a day as with over 1,000 now. The British Prime Minister notes that more than 10,000 Brits might already have it. The situation in the US worsened as well as the death toll increases to 37 now, with thousands affected.

The mortality rate is also on the rise, initially in China it was estimated to be around 1-2%, now it is rising past 5%.

Moreover, reports of notable personalities getting affected by the virus are making things worse. Among them are Hollywood star Tom Hanks, Canadian Prime Minister’s wife, and English Football player, Micheal Arteta.

Free Market vs. Fed Injections: Will BTC Sustain?

The US Fed injected $1.5 trillion dollars into the economy to recoup the massive losses in the stock markets, not seen since 1987.

Dan Tapiero, the co-founder of Bullion International, however expresses optimism around the price of Bitcoin. He tweeted,

BITCOINERS: Hearing guys whine that btc is krap, not a hedge, not digital gold, it’s going to zero etc..stfu. Btc is the only true free market in the world. Btc is the only asset that can go down 50% in one day and doesn’t need govt intervention to stabilize. It will be fine.

The massive scale of the futures on BitMEX caused the markets to plummet to lows at $3600. Nevertheless, the instant pull back on other exchanges and the discrepancies across the market is not entirely negative for the industry as it does not require intervention of regulators and governments.

Nevertheless, as the situation due to continues to worsen across the world, as reported yesterday on CoinGape, it is putting a lot of pressure on miners. Moreover, all development and innovation will also see a halt the world comes to near shutdown. Hence, the probability of Bitcoin falling below 2018 bottom at $3150 is still on the cards.

Do you think the virus issue will worsen or this things will start improving from here? Please share your views with us.