COVID-19 Pandemic and the Safe Haven Property of Bitcoin

ABSTRACT

The commentaries in the literature point out that cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, provide safe haven features to investors. The advent of COVID-19 pandemic offers a perfect opportunity to test this hypothesis. This study tries to validate this claim by examining the safe haven prowess of Bitcoin against measures of uncertainty (VIX, EPU, and Oil Shock). We further make a comparison between pre-and post-COVID-19 analyses. Results confirm that prior to COVID-19, Bitcoin was able to maintain its widely acknowledged characteristics. However, the post COVID-19 announcement upturned the tides previously identified.