Abstract:

China reported the first SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) case to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 31.12.2019. However, it spread to more than 200 countries in the World in a short period. By the date 07.04.2021, more than 133 million cases were detected in the World, approximately 2.9 million people died. In pandemic conditions, governments applied different policies to protect their citizens. In addition to the healthcare system in these countries, the pandemic affected stock markets and various global assets such as gold, petrol, cryptocurrencies, etc, as well. In this study, it is aimed to examine the presence of the price bubbles in the highest market cap cryptocurrencies for the period of 26.06.2018 - 07.04.2021. Within the scope of this study, SADF test is applied to investigate price bubbles in ten cryptocurrencies before and during the pandemic period. Accordingly, it is found that eight of ten cryptocurrencies have price bubbles. It is determined that the highest number of price bubbles in the pre-pandemic period is seen in Binance Coin with a total of 84 trading days. Bitcoin, Chainlink (same days with Bitcoin), Litecoin, and Tether follow this cryptocurrency, respectively. However, the highest price bubble on a trading day basis in the COVID-19 pandemic is seen in Theta with a total of 230 days. During pandemic, Chainlink, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cordano, Binance Coin, and Litecoin follow Theta with 183, 140, 104, 94, 66, and 28 trading days, respectively. Approximately seventy-five percent of price bubbles are seen during the pandemic period. These results show that cryptocurrencies are speculative assets for new investments. When all the analysis period is evaluated, the highest number of a price bubble is detected in the Chainlink with a total of 234 days. Besides, Bitcoin shows the longest price bubble without any breaks with 131 days. Theta and Ethereum follow this cryptocurrency.

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