Article content

Fearful of the future, Europeans are moving their money out of their banks and dumping it into safe havens such as U.S. Treasuries, Government of Canada bonds — and apparently the virtual currency Bitcoin.

‘We’re getting requests from people saying, can we mail you euros? We can’t do that legally, but they keep asking’

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Euro fears boost virtual currency Bitcoin Back to video

“European volume has been skyrocketing,” said Charlie Shrem, chief executive of BitInstant LLC, a company in New York that enables clients to transfer funds between Bitcoin and U.S. and Canadian dollars, British pounds, euros and other major currencies.

According to Mr. Shrem, the sudden rise has been driven by people in countries like Greece, Italy, Spain — and even the Netherlands — anxious to protect their savings.

“We’re getting requests from people literally saying, can we mail you euros? We can’t do that legally, but they keep asking.”

The bad news out of Europe is benefitting safe haven countries, pushing down borrowing costs for a whole swath of governments. On May 30 the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury slipped to 1.6%, the lowest since the Second World War. Ten-year bond yields in Germany, France and Canada have all hit record lows in recent weeks. Even the U.K. is getting a lift.