$250 billion. Or thereabouts.
That’s how much was wiped off the total market cap of global cryptocurrencies from the time things started to go wrong on Monday to the lows on Tuesday:
The dip-buyers showed up briefly on Tuesday evening following another bout of selling after the closing bell on Wall Street that left Ripple sitting at just $0.87 at one point, but ultimately, there wasn’t much in the way of respite on Wednesday. Or at least not so far.
Needless to say, that doesn’t do much to bolster Bitcoin’s credentials as a “store of value” or as some kind of digital replacement for gold.
Well speaking of gold, the crypto carnage we’ve seen over the last 48 hours has led to a veritable bonanza in gold coin sales. Or at least according to online previous metals dealer CoinInvest which saw Gold coin sales quintuple on Tuesday amid the mayhem.
“Yesterday was a hell of a crazy day,” the company’s director Daniel Marburger told Bloomberg, adding that “emails and phones did not stand still with customers asking how they could turn their crypto into gold.”
Well Daniel, you can expect that to continue if things keep going the way they’re going because while Bitcoin was down nearly 50% from its December 18 peak at one point on Tuesday, gold is up nearly 6% over the same time frame.
But hey, don’t worry. Saxo’s Kay Van-Petersen still thinks maybe Bitcoin is going to $100,000 this year.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s something we are seeing,” she told CNBC with regard to Bitcoin trading “sideways” since the start of the year. “It’s kind of building a foundation, then will re-rate a bit higher.”
Ok, Kay. Whatever you say.
Then why’d the gold price drop yestrday? This story sounds like yet another plant by the gold bugs/dealers.
lol. yeah, you’re right. it’s all a giant conspiracy. it couldn’t be that cryptocurrencies are inherently worthless by virtue of the fact that they are, in fact, worthless.
They might be worthless but that’s a different issue than the veracity of gold dealers’ claiming that gold sales “exploded yesterday”. If so, then why did the gold price fall yesterday? It’s the goldbug dealers with the “conspiracy” theories, not me: Banks suppressing gold price. Fort Knox is empty. London is full of lead bars. Gold futures undermining gold price. Government buying stocks to keep gold down. Etc. For the goldbugs, gold should always rise otherwise there’s some conspiracy thwarting it.
“If so, then why did the gold price fall yesterday?”
this is semi-retarded. some people buying gold coins on a website aren’t going to move the price of gold. that doesn’t mean they’re lying.
what you’re saying is akin to me saying this: “the local Wendy’s said it had a great day selling bacon cheeseburgers, but I don’t believe them because the price of pork bellies didn’t skyrocket.”
Well if, as you say, it’s just the claim of “some people buying coins on a website” and as frivolous a sample as “the local Wendy’s”, then agreed it won’t affect prices nor anything, so then why even report that triviality?… and in particular, why link it in a Headline to a price crash in a different asset (bitcoin)? That’s what’s “semi-retarded” — exactly as the goldbugs/dealers do like those at KWN.
Witness, so far today bitcoin is plunging again while gold is down again slightly too. So again no significant negative correlation between bitcoin and gold per their claims (or dreams). The goldbugs have limited credibility, as per my first post above.
here’s the thing bunny – and you seem to struggle with this from time to time – I’m going to write whatever I want to write, whenever I want to write it.
so you know, questioning the editorial decisions is an exercise in abject futility. and to the extent doing things that utterly futile is “semi-retarded” well, if the shoe fits.
Agreed, not my place nor habit to comment on editorial decisions; please excuse that. I was really challenging a goldbug narrative particularly germane to this article. Thing is, there’s numerous dubious narratives around us out there to critically question rather than simply accept. Thank you for your great blog and content.
(-_-)zzz bunny
oh, no need to apologize. this site wouldn’t be any fun if everyone didn’t call each other semi-retarded every once in a while. 🙂
“people buying gold coins on a website aren’t going to move the price of gold.”
Actually online physical gold sales can/have moved the gold price before. Refer to the volatile events of April 2013, and specifically the counter-trend reaction when immediately following the abrupt, historic crash on that memorable day, the physical ran out on a consumer-induced run on gold dealers and pushed price back up impressively. . I lived it, traded it, learned from it. Classic whipsawing.
Heis,
concise and pithy, BUT, Bunny ate your lunch on this one!
agreed whole heartily.
sb
Are there any statistics out there on how much of bitcoin was bought above the current levels? I wonder how much of this a wash where people were holding on to bitcoin that they acquired at lower prices so this is mainly a loss of paper gains vs the idiots that were drawn into the melt up.
If I had bought Bitcoin a few years ago and if I still had it into the big bubble and if I had the sense to cash some profits; then consistent with the anti-fiat thesis, gold coins sound like a reasonable way to “store” the wealth. PS it appears Kay is a he, https://twitter.com/kvp_macro?lang=en
i find that a strange comment form Saxo bank/trading house.
i used to wish i could get an account there–now–not so much.
hahahaha–good luck cripto’s–i will stick with the real thing.
please weigh in, people of cripto’s.
this should get a rise out of someone. i assume the gates of exit closed pretty quickly?
Bunny;
not to mention jpm, citi, and others, see comment of traders. they destroy the long gold trade.
this has been know for a good many years.
i do think gold and silver will have it’s day–just not yet.
maybe sooner rather than later.
good luck all
thanks for all your hard work Mr. H.
sb
Regarding gold vs. crypto/BitCoin argument – why argue in a digital info world – where most if not all headlines are known to be paid content, agenda driven, and biased in some way? All of us can look at the relevant 3 mo. charts for commodity gold Comex GCG8 and the NYSE BitCoin Index –
(https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/GCG8)
(https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/NYXBT?countrycode=XX)
and see the trend lines for both and exactly what has, is and given current international gov/treasury crackdowns will what will probably be happening in the near term. Private cryptocurrencies will become more and more superfluous as they are replaced by gov. blockchain based currency, exchange and financial instruments replacing them. Their are no proprietary technology barriers to prevent it and the economic and regulatory mass behind this trend to replace private cryptocurrencies is unstoppable. Rhyming or not, the history of private currencies has repeated itself for the past 3000 years and today private cryptocurrencies are just doing what all private currencies have done before them – gone extinct.
Bottom line and what all this really means to cyrpto-millenials: Their parents basements and or spare rooms are going to continue to be occupied by their offspring – longer than both suspected. Well at least the parents.