Bitcoin plunges in value as coronavirus infects crypto market

The last few weeks have seen the coronavirus pandemic wreak havoc on global markets across the board, with equities, commodities and the currencies all seeing their fair share of turbulence.

Another casualty has been the original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, which has seen its value in the last month plunge around 37% to US$6,254 in mid-afternoon trading on Monday.

While the price crash is relatively tame by Bitcoin’s standards, the crypto has suffered deeper and faster value declines in previous years, its tumble in line with the rest of the markets has raised questions around the claims of some that the digital coin could become a new ‘have’ asset similar to gold when investors look for safer places to park their cash.

“The years of classifying Bitcoin as a ‘store-of-value’ is really getting put to the test”, said Wayne…