Bitcoin starts strongest quarter Q2 with price down just 10% YTD

Bitcoin (BTC) has in total suffered just 10% from the coronavirus outbreak which obliterated stocks and caused the United States to print $6 trillion.

That was according to the latest quarterly price data from monitoring resource Skew.com on March 31, which showed that for Q1 2020, BTC/USD is only down by around 10.7%. 

 

Bitcoin streets ahead of macro assets in 2020

At press time, the pair remained higher after seeking new support at $6,500 on Monday. 

At those levels, the pair is just $700 lower than its position at the start of 2020, and $3,800 beneath its current year-to-date all-time high of around $10,300. 

Bitcoin has advanced 75% in the two weeks since hitting its quarterly low — in a volatile period, that recovery at one point reached 90% as markets peaked at over $7,000 on some exchanges.

Bitcoin versus U.S. 10-year bond yields, 1-year chart. Source: Skew

As such, Bitcoin now looks increasingly resilient as an investment option versus traditional markets, which are still trailing much more as a result of coronavirus. 

That was despite intervention by central banks on a scale never before seen in history — as Cointelegraph noted, the U.S. money printing exercise alone recreated the country’s entire GDP of 1990 and added it to the dollar supply.

 

Indicator flashes green as lucrative Q2 looms

Statistically, Q2 in a given year tends to be the most profitable for Bitcoin holders. Since 2013, just one Q2 has delivered negative returns, Skew reveals, with average gains totaling 65%.

Bitcoin quarterly returns since 2014. Source: Skew

Signs of potential are becoming visible on some indicators. As Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, the GTI Vera Convergence Divergence Indicator is giving the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index its first “buy” signal in three months.

The mood among analysts is also turning more optimistic. In his latest forecast on Monday, veteran trader Tone Vays said that he no longer expected BTC/USD to find new lows of less than $3,700. 

Earlier in March, he had warned that Bitcoin could plunge to as low as $2,800. Even if this were still to happen, he added, it would not pose a threat as long it was before May’s block reward halving event.