Bitcoin (BTC) represents an emerging asset class, offering investors an alternative avenue for diversification across various units of exchange. The recent global banking crisis of 9 March 2023 has provided an opportunity to reflect on how Bitcoin’s perception as a speculative asset may be evolving. This paper analyzes the volatility behavior of BTC in comparison to gold and the traditional financial market using GARCH models. Additionally, we have developed and incorporated a bank index within our volatility analysis framework, aiming to isolate the impact of financial crises while minimizing idiosyncratic risk. The aim of this work is to understand Bitcoin’s perception among investors and, more importantly, to determine whether BTC can be considered a new asset class. Our findings show that in terms of volatility and price, BTC and gold have responded in very similar ways. Counterintuitively, the financial market seems not to have experienced high volatility and significant price swings in response to the March 9th crisis. This suggests a consumer tendency to seek refuge in both Bitcoin and gold.

中文翻译：

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银行危机推高比特币价格

比特币（BTC）代表了一种新兴的资产类别，为投资者提供了跨各种交易单位进行多元化投资的另一种途径。最近 2023 年 3 月 9 日发生的全球银行业危机提供了一个机会来反思比特币作为投机资产的看法可能如何演变。本文使用 GARCH 模型分析了 BTC 与黄金和传统金融市场的波动行为。此外，我们还在波动性分析框架中开发并纳入了银行指数，旨在隔离金融危机的影响，同时最大限度地降低特殊风险。这项工作的目的是了解投资者对比特币的看法，更重要的是，确定比特币是否可以被视为一种新的资产类别。我们的研究结果表明，就波动性和价格而言，比特币和黄金的反应非常相似。与直觉相反的是，金融市场似乎并未因 3 月 9 日的危机而经历高波动性和显着的价格波动。这表明消费者倾向于寻求比特币和黄金的庇护。