Bitcoin’s Coronavirus Selloff Throws Cold Water on Safe-Haven Argument

As U.S. stocks tumbled on Monday by the most in six months amid renewed coronavirus fears, bitcoin barely budged – at least in terms of the notoriously volatile cryptocurrency’s trading history.

Bitcoin (BTC) was down 4.6 percent as of 6:17 p.m. UTC (1:17 p.m. ET) to $9,517. But a decline of that magnitude represents merely the biggest drop since last week; already this year, bitcoin has suffered six other single-day losses of 3 percent or greater. And due to a powerful rally in recent months, the cryptocurrency’s price is still up about 32 percent in 2020. 

Such a performance stands in stark contrast with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of large U.S. stocks, whose 3.6 percent plunge was the most for a single day since early August and wiped out investors’ gains for the year.  

“There’s certainly a bit of fear in the bitcoin market, but it’s not anything close to the panic we’re seeing on Wall Street today, with the clear flight to safety,” said Mati Greenspan,…