Analysts have discovered a significant similarity between Bitcoin price trend and chip stocks. Over the course of seven months since the beginning of 2017, the price trend of the main Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index has been remarkably similar.
A chart revealed by CNBC showed:
It is unclear whether the similarity between the price trend of the SOX and Bitcoin is completely coincidental or somewhat relates to each other. However, Evercore ISI technical analyst Rich Ross noted that he has been aggressively encouraging investors and traders to buy biotech and sell semiconductors, considering the recent hike of the SOX value.
"I reiterate my sell call on Semi's and continue to see a test of 1,000 on the SOX (-8 percent) as the group continues to display the textbook signs of a reversal in trend and a technical symmetry with Bitcoin, which is down -9 percent overnight and poised for another -17 percent to 2,044,” said Ross.
Why mainstream media & analysts Compare Bitcoin to stocks
For the vast majority of casual investors and traders, Bitcoin is a long-term investment, like a safe haven asset such as gold. Investors are building a portfolio of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Ethereum Classic and Litecoin because the cryptocurrency market has the tendency to perform at its highest level in the midst of economic uncertainty and financial instability.
However, the consistent and extensive report by the mainstream media on the similarities and differences between Bitcoin and stock markets could be considered as an optimistic sign. The fact that conventional and traditional investors are considering Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general as a legitimate asset class and viable digital currencies places the entire cryptocurrency market at a viable position to grow at an exponential rate.
In the past, analysts have suggested the correlation between the value of gold and Bitcoin along with stocks such as the SOX, but as the precious metals market including gold stumbled and failed to demonstrate a safe haven asset like quality with diminishing value, analysts have moved onto Bitcoin and stocks.
In many countries including Australia, South Korea and Japan, mainstream media outlets have been continuously comparing the value of Bitcoin to some of the world’s largest reserve currencies such as the US dollar, Japanese Yen and Chinese Yuan, to address the rapidly growing interest towards Bitcoin as a long-term investment.
Most early investors in Bitcoin recognize the real value of Bitcoin which derives from its decentralized nature and its ability to render existing banking systems and global financial networks useless by creating a peer to peer ecosystem for transaction settlement. Hence, there is still a large portion of investors that have purchased Bitcoin with the primary purpose of using it as a digital currency and a medium of exchange.