CURRENCIES: Bitcoin is currently best Geopolitical & Economic risk indicator
By: Iain Fraser
City of London - Newsroom
Bitcoin is currently the best Geopolitical risk indicator according to Nicholas Colas, co-founder of market research firm DataTrek Research in an interview with CNBC, first published last 14 August.
His rationale is also in line with recent comments by Peter Tchir, the former executive director at Deutsche Bank and Forbes contributor who recently wrote in an article that Bitcoin is a leading indicator of hidden geopolitical tensions. Bitcoin is still new and very volatile
When asked in the interview if believed that Bitcoin was now a "safe haven" asset alongside Bonds & Gold, he said that Bitcoin was one of the few assets of which the price predicted Hong Kong’s protests. Bitcoin is currently trading at a premium in Hong Kong as continued political uncertainty produces a highly anticipated spike in demand.
He was asked if there were any guarantees that previous massive price collapses [taking into account that Bitcoin used to trade at $20,000] had now been mitigated he said “We are definitely seeing that, and really are perked up around the Hong Kong protests and some of the currency flight that happened out of Hong Kong and the mainland, and Bitcoin was one of the few assets that we watched that actually predicted that uncertainty ahead of time. Nothing else was really moving, Bitcoin was.” "Bitcoin is still a new and very volatile asset."
