Following warnings in January that “unforeseen incidents” may occur and potentially affect bitcoin (BTC) price, the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of major crypto payment processor BitPay, Sonny Singh, now says that the Coronavirus could be such an incident. However, according to him, it’s too early to tell whether it’s time to revise his USD 20,000 per BTC prediction.
Singh told Cryptonews.com that the new virus is “definitely one of the unforeseen things that could affect the price of bitcoin,” in addition to other factors such as the news that India will once again allow crypto-related activities after the country’s Supreme Court overruled the previous crypto ban. (A day later, Sout Korean parliament passed a “Landmark” crypto bill.)
Singh followed up by explaining that the virus has so far had a very limited negative impact on the bitcoin price, saying: “While stocks and gold dropped a lot, bitcoin’s drop wasn’t as dramatic.”
“The Coronavirus is such an unprecedented experience, that most investors are still trying to figure out how this will affect the stock market, gold and bitcoin. No one really knows how long this virus will last or the real effect on the markets,” the CCO added.
At the beginning of January, when bitcoin was still below USD 8,000, Singh estimated that BTC will rise above USD 20,000 this year.
“I don't think [the virus outbreak] alters the USD 20K price prediction but it’s still too early to tell,” he told Cryptonews.com now.
Singh’s comment echoes an update published by major venture capital (VC) firm Sequoia Capital on Thursday, where the firm called the Coronavirus “the black swan of 2020.”
In the update, addressed to “Founders & CEOs,” the investment company said that it will most likely “take considerable time – perhaps several quarters – before we can be confident that the virus has been contained,” while adding that the time needed for the global economy to recover “will take even longer.”
