Bitcoin (BTC) will likely benefit from a sharp drop in Asian stock markets due to coronavirus, cryptocurrency analysts believe.

Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360

Stock markets begin “very volatile week”

Data from Coin360 and Cointelegraph Markets showed BTC/USD already making swift gains on Feb. 3, spiking to highs of $9,580 overnight before a slight correction to $9,380.

At the same time, the Shanghai Composite Index, or SSE, opened down almost 8%, as fears over the economic impact of coronavirus continue to heighten.

Authorities have fielded criticism for their handling of the outbreak, with China’s central bank injecting a huge lump sum of capital — 1.2 trillion yuan ($170.9 billion) — into the local market.

Bitcoin 1-day price chart. Source: Coin360

Bitcoin’s 24-hour gains remained flat at press time on Monday, but anticipation remains high on the back of monthly gains nearing 35%.

“A very volatile week has started for the equity markets,” Cointelegraph Markets analyst Michaël van de Poppe summarized in his most recent Twitter post. He added that he expected the impact to increase when European markets opened several hours later.

As Cointelegraph reported, most analysts have mixed opinions over the extent to which coronavirus is “helping” or “hindering” Bitcoin price action.

For trading personality Tone Vays, while Bitcoin certainly gained in some way from the resulting economic turmoil, any serious escalation would likely produce the opposite effect.

Others were more upbeat.

“As trust in global institutions and markets continues to deteriorate, we will see highly mobile digital assets like Bitcoin explode in value,” Jehan Chu, managing partner at blockchain investment firm Kenetic Capital, told Bloomberg on Monday.

Even prior to recent events, Bitcoin was exhibiting bullish signals — technical fundamentals continued to set new records, and institutional interest in products such as Bitcoin futures was more palpable than ever.

This week, another factor was gaining attention — Bitcoin’s 50 and 100-day moving averages look set to cross over in what is traditionally a bullish sign for investors.

Altcoins edge higher as BTC lingers

Altcoins showed signs of growth as the week began, with many of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap inching up by around 1%.

Ether (ETH) challenged $190 on the back of 1.8% daily growth, while others grew more — Tezos (XTZ) was up 8.9%, while XRP managed 4.7%.

Ether 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360

The overall cryptocurrency market cap was $261.3 billion, with Bitcoin’s share at 65.3%.