Diversifying with Cryptocurrencies during COVID-19

Abstract

Literature suggests assets become more correlated during economic down- turns. The current COVID-19 crisis provides an unprecedented opportunity to investigate this considerably further. Further, whether cryptocurrencies provide a diversification for equities is still an unsettled issue. Additionally, the question of whether cryptocurrency futures are safe havens has received very little attention. We employ several econometric procedures, including wavelet coherence, copula principal component, and neural network analyses to rigorously examine the role of COVID-19 on the paired co-movements of six cryptocurrencies, as well as bitcoin futures, with fourteen equity indices and the VIX. We nd co-movements between cryptocurrencies and equity indices gradually increased as COVID-19 progressed. However, most of these co-movements are positively correlated, suggesting that cryptocurrencies do not provide a diversification benefit during downturns. Exceptions, however, are the co-movements of bitcoin futures and tether being negative with equities. Results are consistent with investment vehicles that attract either more informed or more speculative investors dierentiating themselves as safe havens.