Share:


Can Bitcoin be a safe haven in fear sentiment?

    Chi-Wei Su Affiliation
    ; Yuan Xi Affiliation
    ; Ran Tao Affiliation
    ; Muhammad Umar Affiliation

Abstract

This paper explores how fear sentiment affects the price of Bitcoin by employing the rolling-window Granger causality tests. The analysis reveals negative influences from the volatility index (VIX) to Bitcoin price (BTC), which ascertains that Bitcoin can not be considered a haven in fear sentiment. Due to the liquidity in economic downside risks, BTC may decrease with high VIX to hedge losses, increasing during low VIX periods. The empirical results conflict with the intertemporal capital asset pricing model, which underlines that the increasing VIX can promote the price of Bitcoin. In turn, BTC positively impacts VIX, which shows that Bitcoin price can be treated as the main indicator for a more comprehensive analysis of the fear index. Under severe global uncertainty and changeable fluctuation of market sentiment, investors can optimize investment decisions based on market fear sentiment. The government can also consider VIX to grasp the trend of BTC to participate in cryptocurrency speculation effectively.


First published online 18 January 2022

Keyword : Bitcoin price, volatility index, causal relationship, time-varying

How to Cite
Su, C.-W., Xi, Y., Tao, R., & Umar, M. (2022). Can Bitcoin be a safe haven in fear sentiment?. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 28(2), 268–289. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2022.15502
Published in Issue
Feb 23, 2022
Abstract Views
2186
PDF Downloads
1492
Creative Commons License

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

References

Al Mamun, M., Uddin, G. S., Suleman, M. T., & Kang, S. H. (2020). Geopolitical risk, uncertainty and Bitcoin investment. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 540, 123107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2019.123107

Al-Yahyaee, K. H., Mensi, W., Al-Jarrah, I. M. W., Hamdi, A., & Kang, S. H. (2019). Volatility forecasting, downside risk, and diversification benefits of Bitcoin and oil and international commodity markets: A comparative analysis with yellow metal. The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, 49, 104–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.najef.2019.04.001

Ali, M., Alam, N., & Rizvi, S. A. R. (2020). Coronavirus (COVID-19) – An epidemic or pandemic for financial markets. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 27, 100341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbef.2020.100341

Andrews, D. W. K. (1993). Tests for parameter instability and structural change with unknown change point. Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society, 61(4), 821−856. https://doi.org/10.2307/2951764

Andrews, D. W. K., & Ploberger, W. (1994). Optimal tests when a nuisance parameter is present only under the alternative. Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society, 62(6), 1383–1414. https://doi.org/10.2307/2951753

Atsalakis, G. S., Atsalaki, I. G., Pasiouras, F., & Zopounidis, C. (2019). Bitcoin price forecasting with neuro-fuzzy techniques. European Journal of Operational Research, 276(2), 770–780. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2019.01.040

Baek, C., & Elbeck, M. (2015). Bitcoins as an investment or speculative vehicle? A first look. Applied Economics Letters, 22(1), 30–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2014.916379

Balcilar, M., Ozdemir, Z. A., & Arslanturk, Y. (2010). Economic growth and energy consumption causal nexus viewed through a bootstrap rolling window. Energy Economics, 32(6), 1398–1410.

Balcilar, M., & Ozdemir, Z. A. (2013). The export-output growth nexus in Japan: A bootstrap rolling window approach. Empirical Economics, 44, 639–660. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-012-0562-8

Balcilar, M., Bouri, E., Gupta, R., & Roubaud, D. (2017). Can volume predict Bitcoin returns and volatility? A quantiles-based approach. Economic Modelling, 64, 74–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2017.03.019

Baur, D. G., Hong, K., & Lee, A. D. (2018). Bitcoin: medium of exchange or speculative assets. Journal of International Financial Market, Institutions and Money, 54, 177–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intfin.2017.12.004

Baur, D. G., & Lucey, B. M. (2010). Is gold a hedge or a safe haven? An analysis of stocks, bonds and gold. Financial Review, 45, 217–229. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6288.2010.00244.x

Black, F. (1986). Noise. The Journal of Finance, 41, 529–543. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1986.tb04513.x

Bollen , J., Mao, H., & Zeng, X. (2011). Twitter mood predicts the stock market. Journal of Computational Science, 2(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocs.2010.12.007

Bouoiyour, J., Selmi, R., & Wohar, M. E. (2019). Safe havens in the face of presidential election uncertainty: A comparison between Bitcoin, oil and precious metals. Applied Economics, 51(57), 6076–6088. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2019.1645289

Bouri, E., Gkillas, K., & Gupta, R. (2019). Trade uncertainties and the hedging abilities of Bitcoin. Economic Notes, 49(3), e12173. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecno.12173

Bouri, E., & Gupta, R. (2021). Predicting Bitcoin returns: Comparing the roles of newspaper- and internet search-based measures of uncertainty. Finance Research Letters, 38, 101398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2019.101398

Bouri, E., Gupta, R., Lahiani, A., & Shahbaz, M. (2018a). Testing for asymmetric nonlinear short and long-run relationships between bitcoin, aggregate commodity and gold prices. Resources Policy, 57, 224–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2018.03.008

Bouri, E., Gupta, R., Lau, C. K. M., Roubaud, D., & Wang, S. (2018b). Bitcoin and global financial stress: a copula-based approach to dependence and causality in quantiles. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 69, 297–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qref.2018.04.003

Bouri, E., Molnár, P., Azzi, G., Roubaud, D., & Hagfors, L. I. (2017a). On the hedge and safe haven properties of Bitcoin: Is it really more than a diversifier. Finance Research Letters, 20, 192–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2016.09.025

Bouri, E., Azzi, G., & Dyhrberg, A. H. (2017b). On the return-volatility relationship in the Bitcoin market around the price crash of 2013. Economics, 11(2), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2017-2

Bouri, E., Jalkh, N., Molnár, P., & Roubaud, D. (2017c). Bitcoin for energy commodities before and after the December 2013 crash: Diversififier, hedge or safe haven? Applied Economics, 49(50), 5063–5073. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2017.1299102

Bouri, E., Gupta, R., Tiwari, A. K., & Roubaud, D. (2017d). Does Bitcoin hedge global uncertainty? Evidence from wavelet-based quantile-in-quantile regressions. Finance Research Letters, 23, 87–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2017.02.009

Bradbury, D. (2015). In blocks we trust [Bitcoin security]. Engineering & Technology, 10(2), 68–71. https://doi.org/10.1049/et.2015.0208

Brière, M., Oosterlinck, K., & Szafarz, A. (2015). Virtual currency, tangible return: portfolio diversification with bitcoin. Journal of Asset Management, 16, 365–373. https://doi.org/10.1057/jam.2015.5

Bukovina, J., & Martiček, M. (2016). Sentiment and Bitcoin volatility (MENDELU Working Papers in Business and Economics No. 58/2016). Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics http://ftp.mendelu.cz/RePEc/men/wpaper/58_2016.pdf

Celeste, V., Corbet, S., & Gurdgiev, C. (2018, August). Fractal dynamics and wavelet analysis: Deep volatility properties of Bitcoin, ethereum and ripple (Working Paper). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3232913

Chan, W. H., Le, M., & Wu, Y. W. (2019). Holding bitcoin longer: The dynamic hedging abilities of Bitcoin. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 71, 107–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qref.2018.07.004

Cheah, E. T., & Fry, J. (2015). Speculative bubbles in bitcoin markets? An empirical investigation into the fundamental value of bitcoin. Economics Letters, 130, 32–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2015.02.029

Chen, C., Liu, L., & Zhao, N. (2020). Fear sentiment, uncertainty, and Bitcoin price dynamics: The case of COVID-19. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 56(10), 2298–2309. https://doi.org/10.1080/1540496X.2020.1787150

Ciaian, P., Rajcaniova, M., & Kancs, D. (2016). The economics of Bitcoin price formation. Applied Economics, 48(19), 1799–1815. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2015.1109038

Ciner, C., Gurdgiev, C., & Lucey, B. M. (2013). Hedges and safe haves: An examination of stocks, bonds, gold, oil and exchange rates. International Review of Financial Analysis, 29, 202–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2012.12.001

Conlon, T., & McGee, R. (2020). Safe haven or risky hazard? Bitcoin during the Covid-19 bear market. Finance Research Letters, 35, 101607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2020.101607

Das, D., & Dutta, A. (2020). Bitcoin’s energy consumption: Is it the Achilles Heel to miner’s revenue. Economics Letters, 186, 108530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2019.108530

Dastgir, S., Demir, E., Downing, G., Gozgor, G., & Lau, C. K. M. (2019). The causal relationship between Bitcoin attention and Bitcoin returns: Evidence from the copula-based Granger causality test. Finance Research Letters, 28, 160–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2018.04.019

Da, Z., Engelberg, J., & Gao, P. (2015). The sum of all fears investor sentiment and asset prices. The Review of Financial Studies, 28(1), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhu072

Demir, E., Gozgor, G., Lau, C. K. M., & Vigne, S. A. (2018). Does economic policy uncertainty predict the Bitcoin returns? An empirical investigation. Finance Research Letters, 26, 145–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2018.01.005

Dyhrberg, A. H. (2016a). Bitcoin, gold and the dollar – A GARCH volatility analysis. Finance Research Letters, 16, 85–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2015.10.008

Dyhrberg, A. H. (2016b). Hedging capabilities of bitcoin. Is it the virtual gold. Finance Research Letters, 16, 139–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2015.10.025

El Alaoui, M., Bouri, E., & Roubaud, D. (2019). Bitcoin price-volume: A multifractal cross-correlation approach. Finance Research Letters, 31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2018.12.011

Georgoula, I., Pournarakis, D., Bilanakos, C., Sotiropoulos, D., & Giaglis, G. M. (2015). Using time-series and sentiment analysis to detect the determinants of Bitcoin prices. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2607167

Glaser, F., Haferkorn, M., Weber, M. C., & Zimmermann, K. (2014). How to price a digital currency? Empirical insights on the influence of media coverage on the Bitcoin bubble. MKWI 2014 (Paderborn) & Banking and Information Technology, 15(1). https://ssrn.com/abstract=2430653

Guesmi, K., Saadi, S., Abid, I., & Ftiti, Z. (2019). Portfolio diversification with virtual currency: Evidence from bitcoin. International Review of Financial Analysis, 63, 431–437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2018.03.004

Guo, K., Sun, Y., & Qian, X. (2017). Can investor sentiment be used to predict the stock price? Dynamic analysis based on China stock market. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 469, 390–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2016.11.114

Hansen, B. E. (1992). Tests for parameter instability in regressions with I(1) processes. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 20(1), 45–59. https://doi.org/10.1198/073500102753410381

Harvey, C. R. (2014). Bitcoin myths and facts. National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2479670

Huhtinen, T.-P. (2014). Bitcoin as a monetary system: Examining attention and attendance [Master’s thesis]. Aalto University School of Business. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/80712618.pdf

Jareño, F., González, M. O., Tolentino, M., & Sierra, K. (2020). Bitcoin and gold price returns: A quantile regression and NARDL analysis. Resources Policy, 67, 101666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101666

Jiang, Y., Ren, Y. S., Ma, C. Q., Liu, J. L., & Sharp, B. (2020). Does the price of strategic commodities respond to U.S. partisan conflict? Resources Policy, 66, 101617. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101617

Jubinski, D., & Lipton, A. F. (2012). Equity volatility, bond yields, and yield spreads. Journal of Futures Market, 32(5), 480–503. https://doi.org/10.1002/fut.20521

Karalevicius, V., Degrande, N., & De Weerdt, J. (2018). Using sentiment analysis to predict interday Bitcoin price movements. Journal Risk Finance, 19(1), 56–75. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRF-06-2017-0092

Keynes, J. M. (1936). The general theory of employment, interest and money. Palgrave MacMillan.

Kharpal, A. (2017). Central banks could hold bitcoin and ether for the first time in 2018, cryptocurrency CEO says. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/18/central-banks-will-hold-bitcoin-and-ether-in-2018-blockchain-ceo.html

Kindleberger, C. P. (1978). Manias, panics and crashes: A history of financial crises. Palgrave Macmillan.

Kjærland, F., Khazal, A., Krogstad, E. A., Nordstrøm, F. B. G., & Oust, A. (2018). An analysis of Bitcoin’s price dynamics. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 11(4), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm11040063

Kristoufek, L. (2013). Fractal markets hypothesis and the global financial crisis: Wavelet power evidence. Scientific Reports, 3, 2857. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep02857

Kristoufek, L. (2015). What are the main drivers of the bitcoin price? Evidence from wavelet coherence analysis? Plos One, 10(4), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0123923

López-Cabarcos, M. Á., Pérez-Pico, A. M., Piñeiro-Chousa, J., & Šević, A. (2021). Bitcoin volatility, stock market and investor sentiment. Are they connected. Finance Research Letters, 38, 101399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2019.101399

Lucas, R. E. (1976). Econometric policy evaluation: A critique. Carnegie-Rochester Conferences Series on Public Policy, 1, 19–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-2231(76)80003-6

Matkovskyy, R., & Jalan, A. (2019). From financial markets to Bitcoin markets: A fresh look at the contagion effect. Finance Research Letters, 31, 93–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2019.04.007

Mauro, C., Kumar, E. S., Chhagan, L., & Sushmita, R. (2018). A survey on security and privacy issues of Bitcoin. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 20(4), 3416–3452. https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2018.2842460

Mele, A., Obayashi, Y., & Shalen, C. (2015). Rate fears gauges and the dynamics of fixed income and equity volatilities. Journal of Banking & Finance, 52, 256–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2014.04.030

Merton, R. C. (1973). An intertemporal capital asset pricing model. Econometrica, 41(5), 867–887. https://doi.org/10.2307/1913811

Nakamoto, S. (2008). Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3440802

Nofsinger, J. (2005). Social mood and financial economics. The Journal of Behavioral Finance, 6(3), 144–160. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15427579jpfm0603_4

Nyblom, J. (1989). Testing for the constancy of parameters over time. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 84(405), 223–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1989.10478759

Panagiotidis, T., Stengos, T., & Vravosinos, O. (2019). The effects of markets, uncertainty and search intensity on Bitcoin returns. International Review of Financial Analysis, 63, 220–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2018.11.002

Philippas, D., Rjiba, H., Guesmi, K., & Goutte, S. (2019). Media attention and Bitcoin prices. Finance Research Letters, 30, 37–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2019.03.031

Plakandaras, V., Bouri, E., & Gupta, R. (2021). Forecasting Bitcoin returns: Is there a role for the US–China trade war? Journal of Risk, 23(3), 75–93. https://doi.org/10.21314/JOR.2021.001

Platanakis, E., & Urquhart, A. (2020). Should investors include Bitcoin in their portfolios? A portfolio theory approach. The British Accounting Review, 52(4), 100837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bar.2019.100837

Popper, N. (2015). Digital gold: The untold story of Bitcoin. Penguin Books Limited.

Poyser, O. (2019). Exploring the dynamics of Bitcoin’s price: a Bayesian structural time series approach. Eurasian Economic Review, 9(1), 29–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40822-018-0108-2

Qin, M., Su, C. W., & Tao, R. (2021). BitCoin: A new basket for eggs? Economic Modelling, 94, 896–907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2020.02.031

Shahzad, J., Bouri, E., Roubaud, D., Kristoufek, L., & Lucey, B. (2019). Is Bitcoin a better safe-haven investment than gold and commodities. International Review of Financial Analysis, 63, 322–330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2019.01.002

Sharpe, W. F. (1964). Capital asset prices: A theory of market equilibrium under conditions of risk. Journal of Finance, 19(3), 425–442. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1964.tb02865.x

Shevchenko, D., & Godwin, E. I. (2018). The effects of behavioral factors on the creditworthiness of small-scale enterprises. In I. Nekrasova, O. Karnaukhova, & B. Christiansen (Eds.), Fractal approaches for modeling financial assets and predicting crises. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-3767-0.ch006

Shukur, G., & Mantalos, P. (1997). Size and power of the RESET test as applied to systems of equations: A bootstrap approach (Working Paper). Department of Statistics, University of Lund.

Shukur, G., & Mantalos, P. (2000). A simple investigation of the Granger-Causality test in integrated-cointegrated VAR systems. Journal of Applied Statistics, 27, 1021–1031. https://doi.org/10.1080/02664760050173346

Smales, L. A. (2014). News sentiment and the investor fear gauge. Finance Research Letters, 2(11), 122–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2013.07.003

Smales, L. A. (2019). Bitcoin as a safe haven: Is it even worth considering. Finance Research Letters, 30, 385–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2018.11.002

Stavroyiannis, S., & Babalos, V. (2017). Dynamic properties of the Bitcoin and the US market. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2966998

Su, C. W., Cai, X. Y., Qin, M., Tao R., & Umar, M. (2021a). Can bank credit withstand falling house price in China. International Review of Economics & Finance, 71, 257–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2020.09.013

Su, C. W., Khan, K., Tao R., & Moldovan, N. C. (2019a). Does geopolitical risk strengthen or depress oil prices and financial liquidity? Evidence from Saudi Arabia. Energy, 187, 116003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.116003

Su, C. W., Qin, M., Rizvi, S. K. A., & Umar, M. (2020a). Bank competition in China: A blessing or a curse for financial system. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 34(1), 1244–1264. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2020.1820361

Su, C. W., Qin, M., Tao, R., & Umar, M. (2020b). Does oil price really matter for the wage arrears in Russia? Energy, 208, 118350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.118350

Su, C. W., Qin, M., Tao, R., & Umar, M. (2020c). Financial implications of fourth industrial revolution: Can bitcoin improve prospects of energy investment? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 158, 120178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120178

Su, C. W., Qin, M., Tao, R., Nicoleta-Claudia, M., & Oana-Ramona, L. (2020d). Factors driving oil price – From the perspective of united states. Energy, 197, 117219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.117219

Su, C. W., Qin, M., Tao, R., Shao, X. F., & Lucian, L. A. (2019b). Can Bitcoin hedge the risks of geopolitical events. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 159, 120182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120182

Su, C. W., Qin, M., Zhang, X. L., Tao, R., & Umar, M. (2021b). Should Bitcoin be held under the U.S. partisan conflict? Technological and Economic Development Economy, 27(3), 511–529. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2021.14058

Su, C. W., Song, Y., Tao, R., & Hao, L. N. (2020e). Does political conflict affect bilateral trade or vice versa? Evidence from Sino-U.S. relations. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 33(1), 3238–3257. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2019.1694559

Su, C. W., Sun, T. Z., Ahmad, S., & Mirza, N. (2021c). Does institutional quality and remittances inflow crowd-in private investment to avoid Dutch Disease? A case for emerging seven (E7) economies. Resources Policy, 72, 102111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2021.102111

Su, C.-W., Huang, S.-W., Qin, M., & Umar, M. (2021d). Does crude oil price stimulate economic policy uncertainty in BRICS? Pacific Basin Finance Journal, 66, 101519. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacfin.2021.101519

Tao, R., Su, C. W., Xiao, Y. D., Dai, K., & Khalid, F. (2021). Robo advisors, algorithmic trading and investment management: Wonders of fourth industrial revolution in financial markets. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 163, 120421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120421

Troster, V., Tiwari, A. K., Shahbaz, M., & Macedo, D. N. (2019). Bitcoin returns and risk: A general GARCH and GAS analysis. Finance Research Letters, 30, 187–193.

Wang, G. J., Tang, Y. P., Xie, C., & Chen, S. (2019). Is Bitcoin a safe haven or a hedging asset? Evidence from China. Journal of Management Science and Engineering, 4(3), 173–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmse.2019.09.001

Whaley, R. E. (2000). The investor fear gauge: Explication of the CBOE VIX. Journal of Portfolio Management, 26(3), 12–17. https://doi.org/10.3905/jpm.2000.319728

Weber, B. (2014). Bitcoin and the legitimacy crisis of money. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 40, 17–41. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/beu067

Yermack, D. (2013). Is Bitcoin a real currency? An economic appraisal (NBER Working Paper No. 19747). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w19747

Zaghloul, E., Li, T., Mutka, M., & Ren, J. (2019). Bitcoin and blockchain: Security and privacy. arXiv:1904.11435.

Zhu, Y., Dickinson, D., & Li, J. (2017). Analysis on the influence factors of Bitcoin’s price based on VEC model. Financial Innovation, 3, 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40854-017-0054-0

Zouaoui, M., Nouyrigat, G., & Beer, F. (2011). How does investor sentiment affect stock market crises? Evidence from panel data. Financial Review, 46(4), 723–747. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6288.2011.00318.x