The Dynamics of Cryptocurrency Price Volatility in the Face of the Crisis on the Example of Bitcoin and Ethereum

Judyta Przyłuska-Schmitt, Dorota Jegorow, Jaroslava Bučková

Abstract


Theoretical background: Over the years, investing in cryptocurrencies has become very popular, and until recently, investors have predicted Bitcoin as a “safe haven”. Belief in a decentralized virtual currency even prompted the Salvadoran government to recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender in September 2021. However, cryptocurrency has depreciated significantly since then. The high amplitude of the fluctuations shows that on November 10, 2021, Bitcoin hit an all-time high of USD 68,979, and on June 18, 2022, it fell to its low of USD 17,601. Today, investors are wondering if investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies still make sense.

Purpose of the article: The aim of the article is to compare the price fluctuations of the most popular cryptocurrencies, i.e. Bitcoin and Ethereum in the currently observed economic crisis in the world and the collapse of the cryptocurrency market.

Research methods: Observations of the cryptocurrency market and theoretical issues of its functioning were combined with the analysis of empirical data of Bitcoin and Ethereum quotations from January 2022 to June 2022. The basic research instruments were based on the analysis of dependencies and descriptive statistics. The conducted analysis of the time series was aimed at detecting the nature of the studied phenomenon represented by the sequence of observations of daily quotations and forecasting future values of the time series. In this context, the course of Bitcoin and Ethereum quotations was examined in two categories: Close and Market Cap in search of a potential development pattern.

Main findings: The conducted research shows that strong and unpredictable fluctuations in the prices of the studied cryptocurrencies, especially in the period of market shocks, imply unknown uncertainty, much more important than investment decisions made under the conditions of measurable risk. Cryptocurrencies cannot function as an alternative to gold, enabling value to be stored, as confirmed by market quotations over the past months.


Keywords


cryptocurrency pricing; financial crisis; time series

Full Text:

PDF

References


Assaf, A., Bilgin, M.H., & Demir, E. (2022). Using transfer entropy to measure information flows between cryptocurrencies. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 586. doi:10.1016/j.physa.2021.126484

Attlee, D. (2022). El Salvador ‘has not had any losses’ due to Bitcoin price dive, Finance Minister says. Cointelegraph. Retrieved from https://cointelegraph.com/news/el-salvador-has-not-had-any-losses-due-to-Bitcoin-price-dive-finance-minister-says

Bao, H., Li, J., Peng, Y., & Qu, Q. (2022). Can Bitcoin help money cross the border: International evidence. Finance Research Letters, 49. doi:10.1016/j.frl.2022.103127

BitHub. (2022). Bitcoin odrodzi się niczym Amazon z popiołów i zastąpi dolara? Opinia Sharmy – prezesa Rockefeller International. Retrieved fromhttps://bithub.pl/wiadomosci/Bitcoin-odrodzi-sie-niczym-amazon-z-popiolow-i-zastapi-dolara-opinia-sharmy-prezesa-rockefeller-international/

Chipolina, S., & Samson, A. (2022). What’s next after the crypto market crash? Q&A. Financial Times. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/f1f3197f-4e33-4dc1-99ea-1a13d765efd6

CoinMarketCap. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://coinmarketcap.com

Debthammer. (2022). Survey: Americans Borrow Money, Default on Bills to Buy Cryptocurrency. Retrieved from https://debthammer.org/cryptocurrency-survey/

Dunbara, K., & Owusu-Amoako, J.(2022). Cryptocurrency returns under empirical asset pricing. International Review of Financial Analysis, 82. doi:10.1016/j.irfa.2022.102216

Foroutan, P., & Lahmiri, S. (2022). The effect of COVID-19 pandemic on return-volume and return-volatility relationships in cryptocurrency markets. Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, 162. doi:10.1016/j.chaos.2022.112443

Kumar, S. (2022). Turn-of-the-month effect in cryptocurrencies. Managerial Finance, 48(5), 821–829. doi:10.1108/MF-02-2022-0084

Lee, Y., & Rhee, J.H. (2022). A VECM analysis of Bitcoinprice using time-varying cointegration approach. Journal of Derivatives and Quantitative Studies: 선물연구, 30(3), 197–218. doi:10.1108/JDQS-01-2022-0001

Lopez-Martin, C. (2022). Ramadan effect in the cryptocurrency markets. Review of Behavioral Finance, 14(4), 508–532. doi:10.1108/RBF-09-2021-0173

Ma, Y., & Luan, Z. (2022). Ethereum synchronicity, upside volatility, and Bitcoin crash risk. Finance Research Letters, 46, Part A, 102352. doi:10.1016/j.frl.2021.102352

Ma, Ch., Tian, Y., Hsiao, S., & Deng, L. (2022). Monetary policy shocks and Bitcoin prices. Research in International Business and Finance, 62. doi:10.1016/j.ribaf.2022.101711

Neto, D. (2022). Examining interconnectedness between media attention and cryptocurrency markets: A transfer entropy story. Economics Letter, 214. doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2022.110460

Partz, H. (2022). Crypto exchanges consider Ukraine’s call to freeze Russians’ Bitcoin. Cointelegraph. Retrieved from https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-exchanges-consider-ukraine-s-call-to-freeze-russians-Bitcoin

Przyłuska-Schmitt, J., Jegorow, D., & Bučková, J. (2022). Investments in gold or cryptocurrencies? Safe haven during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology, Organization and Management Series, 158, 489–500. doi:10.29119/1641-3466.2022.158.31

Qadan, M., Aharon, D.Y., & Eichel, R. (2022). Seasonal and calendar effects and the price efficiency of cryptocurrencies. Finance Research Letters, 46, Part A, 102354. doi:10.1016/j.frl.2021.102354

Quamara, S., & Singh, A.K. (2022). A systematic survey on security concerns in cryptocurrencies: State-of-the-art and perspectives. Computers & Security, 113. doi:10.1016/j.cose.2021.102548

Sarkar, A. (2022). Ukraine accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT donations amid ongoing war. Cointelegraph, https://cointelegraph.com/news/ukraine-accepts-Bitcoin-ethereum-usdt-donations-to-fund-ongoing-war

Smith, A. (2022). Famous Analyst ‘Kaleo’ Predicts the Upcoming Bitcoin Rally. Retrieved from https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/07/18/famous-analyst-kaleo-predicts-the-upcoming-bitcoin-rally/

The Conversation. (2022). How the Russia-Ukraine conflict has put cryptocurrencies in the spotlight. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/how-the-russia-ukraine-conflict-has-put-cryptocurrencies-in-the-spotlight-180527




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/h.2023.57.2.101-113
Date of publication: 2023-06-27 19:34:44
Date of submission: 2022-07-30 10:01:07


Statistics


Total abstract view - 608
Downloads (from 2020-06-17) - PDF - 0

Indicators



Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2023 Judyta Przyłuska-Schmitt, Dorota Jegorow, Jaroslava Bučková

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.