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Fear Sentiment, Uncertainty, and Bitcoin Price Dynamics: The Case of COVID-19

  • Conghui-Jocelyn Chen
  • , Lanlan Liu
  • , Ningru Zhao

    Research output: Contribution to JournalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    This paper studies the impact of fear sentiment caused by the coronavirus pandemic on Bitcoin price dynamics. We construct a new proxy for coronavirus fear sentiment using hourly Google search queries on coronavirus-related words. The results show that market volatility has been exacerbated by fear sentiment as the result of an increase in search interest in coronavirus. Moreover, we find that negative Bitcoin returns and high trading volume can be explained by fear sentiment regarding the coronavirus. Our results also show that Bitcoin fails to act as a safe haven during the pandemic.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)2298-2309
    Number of pages12
    JournalEmerging Markets Finance and Trade
    Volume56
    Issue number10
    Early online date25 Jul 2020
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 8 Aug 2020

    UN SDGs

    This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

    1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
      SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

    Keywords

    • Coronavirus
    • Google search volume
    • Fear sentiment
    • Bitcoin price dynamics
    • General Economics, Econometrics and Finance
    • Finance

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