LONDON: Bitcoin's recent gains as stocks plummeted on U.S.-China trade tensions reflect not so much its safe-haven credentials but its potential for quick gains, cryptocurrency and foreign exchange traders said on Tuesday.
Unlike government-issued fiat money, bitcoin is produced by miners across the world racing to solve computer puzzles. Its supply is also capped at 21 million, a scarcity aficionados say gives it an innate value, like rare metals.After major market-moving events over the last year, including U.S. President Donald Trump's threat last week to slap more Chinese imports with tariffs, bitcoin has jumped as stocks tumbled.
In times of market fluctuations, investors tend to move small proportions of their portfolios to bitcoin, said Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of London-based cryptocurrency platform Luno.