Although Bitcoin has shown little bearish run over the first quarter, it has emerged as the most valuable asset when it comes to profit returns in the financial market. The leading digital asset list over 10% of its price in the first three months of 2020 with the major fall coming in the "Black Thursday" event that took place. The event saw Bitcoin lose half its price in what continued on a two-day run and gradually eased back into the lead. 

With Bitcoin posting a 10% profit in the first quarter, Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq suffered losses respectively to close up the first quarter. S&P posted a profit of 1% while Nasdaq could only manage a 2% profit in the YTD performance. Bitcoin and Gold were the biggest gainers in the Year to Date performance of the first quarter as they stopped at 35% and 11% respectively.

Volatility rocks digital asset market

The financial market has been rocked by the recent volatility as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic that is threatening the economy of most countries. With business shut down and most of the population not able to move out as a result of the lockdown restrictions in place, major investors in the financial market have decided to hold on to their funds. Crypto was the first to be affected as they witnessed a big sell-off on March 8 after the price of oil crashed massively. 

On March 12, digital assets lost about $93 billion of their value wiped off after bitcoin suffered a 48% price crash which continued till the next day. With the majority of the big game players having faith in the crypto, it is only a matter of time before another test surfaces soon. Head of Business Development at Luno, Vijay Ayyar says, "Bitcoin is still a relatively smaller asset class that is increasingly uncorrelated to traditional asset classes and this is in the process of being established as we speak. This is why I believe the current market environment is a big test for Bitcoin and given how young the asset class is, it has held up quite well. 

New Bitcoin backed security listed on German trading market

ETC Group, a London based firm has announced that it is planning to add a Bitcoin backed security to the German electronic trading market in the latter part of this month. The group further stated that the newly added Bitcoin backed security known as BTCE is the first world clearing tool that would be named under the German exchange located in Frankfurt, Germany. he clearing tool is used in the European market to boost market stability by making sure that each firm takes up enough risk. With the security backed by the leading crypto, the major companies would have a stake in the cryptocurrency.

Investors stand to benefit more, says ETC Group CEO

According to the group, all the Bitcoin would be stored in cold storage which is not accessible via the Internet and would be stored with Palo Alto and BitGo. Bradley Duke, CEO of the ETC group was quoted in an interview with newsmen as saying;

"Investors get the benefit of trading and owning bitcoin through regulated security while having the option to redeem bitcoin if they choose". "It is a hybrid ETP product that has the same features as an ETF [exchange-traded product]. Because itâs a single asset instrument it doesnât qualify to be an ETF according to the European fund regime", the CEO further said.

The new security is going to be slightly costlier than the normal ETFs, with the security costing a massive 2% compared to the 0.5%-0.7% that traditional ETF possesses. ETC noted that bringing an asset like this into the market is tough that is why the premium is reflecting it. The new security is said to be launched on the HANetf platform where other products are present like the cloud computing ETF and the medical cannabis ETF.

With the launching of the new Bitcoin backed security, it is coming after German financial authority BaFin said that it has decided to recognize crypto as a means of financial payments. The security would be held by major companies around Germany and has been touted to be extended to the united kingdom, Italy, and Austria with the view of allowing firms to trade in the BTCE shares.

Comparison of Bitcoin performance to other stocks in the first quarter

With Bitcoin recording little spasms of decline in the volatility that has rocked the crypto market, it has seen a major 20% boost in the first quarter after making a 10% bearish run at the beginning of the year. Looking at Bitcoin's 20% surge compared to how S&P 500 has performed in the market, it has recorded a 20% decline in the first quarter of 2020.

With Bitcoin seemingly moving a massive 20% in profits, the financial turmoil faced as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic that has rocked the market has seen Nasdaq make a massive 14% plunge in the market. While comparing Bitcoin's 20% surge to the performance of Gold in the first quarter, it shows that gold registered a 4% profit.