BITCOIN fell by the most in almost a month as riskier assets slumped while the conflict in the Middle East escalated, undercutting the argument that digital assets are a refuge.
The largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 5.7 per cent to US$60,168 on Tuesday (Oct 1), the biggest one-day decline since Sep 6. Other altcoins fell further, with Ether dropping more than 6 per cent, Dogecoin tumbling 8 per cent and Avalanche slipping in excess of 7 per cent.
Cryptocurrencies slumped alongside equities as investors retreated to safer corners of the market. Haven assets were bid up with bonds, oil, gold and the US dollar all advancing after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel following an advance of armed forces into Lebanon.
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts, including BlackRock head of digital assets Robbie Mitchnick have previously said Bitcoin displays the qualities of an uncorrelated asset such as gold.
“When we think about Bitcoin, we think about primarily as an emerging global monetary alternative,” Mitchnick said during a Bloomberg TV interview last week. “Scarce, global, decentralised, non-sovereign asset. And it’s an asset that has no country-specific risk, that has no counterparty risk.” BLOOMBERG
