Bitcoin Ends Q1 Down 10%, Cryptocurrency Holders Expect Returns in Q2

Bitcoin has ended the first quarter (Q1) of 2020 down by 10% from the beginning of the year but is expected to rally significantly in Q2 – holders expected to pocket high returns.

On March 31, BTC/USD was changing hands in green with not more than 1%, but at press time (Wednesday, 1 April 2020 (GMT-4) Time in New York, USA), Bitcoin is trading in red at about $6,348 (-1.63 percent) with a market cap of $116.17 billion and volume of $33.26 billion. The number one altcoin by MC has depreciated by 4.78% in the last 7 days, according to the data from Coinmarketcap. Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and Tether (USDT) are currently trading in green at around $133 (0.19%), $0.173455 (0.35%) and $1.01 (0.39 percent) respectively.

Other notable assets include EOS (EOS) up 0.26 percent, Tezos (XTZ) in the green 0.27% and UNUS SED LEO (LEO) gaining 1.3%. Other altcoins in the red include Bitcoin Cash (BCH) dropping 1.25%, Bitcoin SV (BSV) down by 0.89%, Litecoin (LTC) falling by -0.58 percent and Binance Coin (BNB) low at -1.51 percent. All price changes are in the past 24 hours as of 20:30 UTC (4:30 p.m. ET) on March 31.

Covid19: catastrophe or blessing?

The main reason for such a recession in Q1 2020 is the COVID-19 pandemic raging across the entire world. It has dug a deep hole in the cryptocurrency market and the global economy at large, and even analysts are uncertain about where the market would go next. 

Nevertheless, there are definitely some signs that could indicate possible growth in the future. First of all, there is a global trend for using digital money instead of cash. According to coinidol.com, a world blockchain news outlet, it can even lead to the overall shortening of fiat money circulation, thus, opening the way for cryptocurrency.

What is more, some experts including John McAfee believe the world might face a significant devaluation of the dollar due to the recent coronavirus relief bill package that stipulates a $2 trillion injection from the Federal Reserve Fund. Besides, due to the continuous poor performance of other markets and low trade volumes on stocks, the Fed has printed another $6 trillion in fiat. 

These two factors could cause the loss of trust in traditional assets and force investors to seek alternatives, which could also have a positive influence over cryptocurrency, as the market will see the inflow of investment. Even now, trading on a wide range of cryptocurrency exchanges has increased since the ecosystem has continued to consider and believe that Bitcoin is actually a safe-haven valuable asset.