In brief
- Tech’s big five have lost a collective $460 billion in market cap since WHO declared coronavirus a public health emergency.
- The crypto market saw losses of $26 billion in 24hrs on Monday.
- Crypto has largely mirrored losses in stocks and equities since January 30. But some coins are showing signs of resilience.
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The stock market’s bull run has hit a wall, as the coronavirus pandemic and the oil-price plunge has induced fears of a global recession—and the crypto market has largely gone down with it.
Tech’s big five, known as FAMGA and comprised of Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, have seen their market cap collectively drop by $460 billion since the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a public health emergency on January 30, according to the latest report by CB Insights.
Although the Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto markets are sometimes referred to as a safe haven, they have not been immune to the stock market’s turmoil. On Monday, the crypto market followed the lead set by stocks and equities and dropped by $26 billion within 24 hours.
For example, on January 30, Bitcoin’s price was around $9,300 per coin, and it even peaked at around $10,300 on February 13. But it has dropped by around 16 percent since WHO declared the emergency, and is now trading around $7,800, according to data from crypto analytics firm Messari.
In the same time frame, Facebook has plunged by 15 percent, Apple by 11.9 percent, Microsoft by 6.9 percent, and Google by 12.4 percent. Amazon is the only Big Tech firm that has resisted the market turmoil and actually gained 1.1 percent during this time frame. (Maybe it’s all the Purell it's been selling.)
Like Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH)—crypto’s second largest coin by market cap—briefly rose after January 30 and peaked in mid-February, but plunged with the rest of the stock and crypto markets on Monday. At the moment, Ethereum is trading around $190 per coin, down 6 percent on the day.
The rest of crypto’s big five by market cap: XRP, down about 10% since the WHO’s declaration of emergency, and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), down about 28%, have followed similar patterns to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Before the big meltdown on Monday morning, crypto experts Ryan Selkis from Messari and Ari Paul of Block Tower Capital on Sunday had both predicted that the Bitcoin and crypto markets would follow the drop in the US equities market—and they were right.
But while Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market may not be so “uncorrelated” to traditional assets after all, there is some optimism that it can remain a bright spot. As Paul pointed out in his post, Bitcoin is still up around 7 percent on the year despite equities dropping by 15 percent. Since Monday, altcoins have also seen a slight boost.
While it may not behave like a safe haven just yet, it’s worth keeping a close eye on crypto this week as the threat of coronavirus and economic recession looms ahead.