Readers will know that for some time I have been testing the thesis that Bitcoin is some kind of new-fangled safe haven asset. As preposterous as it sounds to make an untested, immaterial, anarchistic electron a safe haven, that’s what the boosters claim so we need to test it.
It’s been doing OK in recent times, rising and falling roughly in tandem with gold, responding to similar broader signals. But last night it as gold took off, BTC completely crapped the bed:
Versus gold we have a sudden break:
Though god knows, it could be repaired in a nano-second.
There is no great explanation available, via Forbes:
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency market watchers were on high alert today as the eagerly-anticipated Bakkt crypto platform went live.
The bitcoin price failed to perform, however, with bitcoin losing around 2% of its value since Bakkt began trading its “physically” settled bitcoin futures contracts, with some $8 billion wiped from the wider cryptocurrency market today.
Meanwhile, litecoin, the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market value, has suddenly gone into free fall, losing almost 10% of its value in a matter of minutes.
Doesn’t seem to mean much. Though in the longer term it does point out another BTC stupidity, that it is infinitely replicable.
Who knows? And that question is really what matters when assessing what is a “safe haven” versus what is a steaming pillock being sold as one.
