Binance US CEO: Coronavirus Quarantine Precipitated “Volume Resurgence” in Asia

Catherine Coley, the CEO of Binance US, stated that the coronavirus quarantine in Asia was the primary driver of a surge in trade volume in a March 16 interview with Bloomberg.

Speaking about the recent correlation between Bitcoin (BTC) and the S&P 500, Coley states that cryptocurrency markets display a familiar long-term cycle, as well as traditional markets.

She explains that markets are living through what she calls the “CRIC cycle” — when “crisis” drives a market “response,” followed by “improvements,” and then a return to “complacency,” and the cycle repeats again.

“So, in the regular traditional asset classes, as with Bitcoin, you’re seeing that complacency in the market turn into crisis, creating panic. That’s going to generate sell-off across the board.”

Bitcoin is resilient to real-world supply-chain shocks

She stresses on the fact that the cryptocurrency markets hold on the “technology that we can trade on 24/7, regardless of our environment,” positioning the system as independent from the “supply chain problems that we are seeing from national traded stock.”

“You also saw […] a resurgence of trading volumes taking place in Asia when the […] quarantine took place. So I think you will see the same thing happen in the U.S. when we get more firm guidelines on what the quarantine means for America.”

Coley then adds: “I think you see Bitcoin being something that we can continue to engage with, regardless of the safety and concerns of the U.S. and globally.“

Institutions see BTC prices “affordable” for them

Coley notes that the cryptocurrency industry has matured significantly over the last year, and current prices may attract institutional investors:

“We’ve seen such a maturing from last year in this space, with institutions being able to identify who are really the players in the crypto space, and now the prices are now affordable for those institutions to come in.”

Binance US CEO believes that markets still need to understand the exact meaning of “safe haven”

When asked about whether recent market volatility impacted Bitcoin’s status as a “safe haven” asset, Coley answers: “I think that markets are still trying to figure out what exactly ‘safe-haven’ means.”

However, Coley believes that the fact that Bitcoin is independent from the physical world will precipitate trading despite global quarantine measures and economic issues forced by the coronavirus threat.

Since its launch in September 2019, Binance US has been adding more and more assets to its platform. In March, the exchange revealed support for Tezos (XTZ) and began accepting USD Coin (USDC) deposits.