Cash Is the New Safe Haven as Crypto, Gold Continue to Tank

It turns out cold, hard cash with a helping of government bonds — not bitcoin or even gold — is where people turn in the face of a pandemic and market turmoil. 

Liquidations set in on the cryptocurrency market the day after the U.S. announced European travel restrictions due to coronavirus fears Wednesday. Bitcoin (BTC) is down 21 percent and ether (ETH) is down 27 percent over the past 24 hours. That’s more than the traditional markets, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 down nearly 8 percent at 2:45 p.m. ET (1845 UTC).

“It’s apocalyptic out there. Traditional safe havens like gold are down,” said Rupert Douglas, head of Business Development, Institutional Sales at Koine. 

Traders liquidating holdings on crypto’s bellwether derivatives exchange, BitMEX, fueled some of these moves. Gold also got hit as traders sold the yellow metal for the safety of much-needed cash as losses mounted in equities. 

“This downward pressure caused crypto markets to suffer a liquidity crunch…