More and more, you’re hearing some worries surface that a slumping bitcoin market could spill over into equities.  I suppose that’s often true wherever asset prices fall, especially when it comes to market sentiment and psychology, though I’m not convinced it’s the case…yet.  For one, though the volume of cryptocurrency trading has skyrocketed, the size of the bitcoin’s market is still small—fall smaller than equities and the bond market.  Furthermore, bitcoin’s supporting infrastructure has yet to fully integrate into that of more mainstream investments (though obviously the rise of bitcoin futures comprises a step in that direction).  Finally, I think the level of correlation is pretty small–sure, it could be used in shorthand for tech, but probably only by those traders who understand it the least.  So although it may not be a good hedge for equities, I don’t see it as able to cause a stock selloff on its own, at least not yet.  Instead, at this point I’d have to see major players taking major positions in bitcoin that could impact their ability participate in stock and bond markets.

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