Key facts: A Santiment study analyzed discussions on Telegram, Discord, Reddit and trader chats. The analysis shows that the crypto market is influenced by what happens with the disease. The side effects of COVID-19 coronavirus expansion keep dozens of countries and millions of people in alarm. This epidemic that originated in Wuhan, China, is also affecting cryptocurrency markets. Faced with this situation, an analysis of the firm Santiment revealed that when the words coronavirus and COVID-19 are a trend, the price of bitcoin has fallen significantly. The follow-up of both terms was carried out between December 2019, when there were almost no mentions, and March this year, through four communication platforms that are: Telegram, Discord, Reddit and professional trader chats . The company ensures that the widespread fear has had an undeniable effect on prices of cryptocurrencies and, after evaluating those words, it was determined that there is an inverse correlation with the price of bitcoin. «In the four cases we see that we are close or at the highest levels of discussion of all time about the coronavirus. And every time these discussions have skyrocketed, (the price of) BTC has collapsed (…) Cryptocurrencies are driven by sentiment, and there is no greater proof of this than what we are seeing now, ”Santiment said in his account on Twitter @santimentfeed . The researchers determined that the peaks of mentions for both words, so far in 2020, have reached three caps , one for each month that has elapsed. This is how in January the maximum of more than 400 mentions occurred near Tuesday 21, and then go to almost 800 during the last week of February. In both cases bitcoin showed a significant drop. In the first case the price went from $ 9,115 to 8,296, for the second date the price fell from $ 9,924 to 8,524.
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) March 9, 2020 In the most recent stumble, on March, the main cryptocurrency in the market went from $ 9,157 to 7,753, for Monday, March 9, according to CoinMarketCap figures. As a reference, the lowest price bitcoin has registered this year was January 2 when its price was $ 6,972. The volatile outlook is presented when a little more than two months remain for the next bitcoin halving . Analyst and trader Alberto Cárdenas said that a potential global financial crisis triggered by the coronavirus, negative interest rates, financial distortions and late economic cycles could lead the bitcoin price to be around $ 5,000 . During February the crypto market was influenced by the progress of the coronavirus , not only in Asia, but also in Europe, the United States and various Latin American countries. Reports indicate that there are already more than 114,000 cases in 112 countries with more than 4,000 people killed . Scientists estimate that a vaccine against the disease will not be ready in 2020, but next year, which has generated greater uncertainty.
