With the global economy sitting on a precipice that may see it plunged into a rather large recession, if not a financial crisis, there are a number of people who are looking to hedge their bets before things really start to take root.

Suggestions have been made that, with the stock markets and other markets collapsing, it is time to get into safe have assets — namely gold. This is the traditional hedge against falling markets and the devaluation of the dollar, but there has emerged another alternative — Bitcoin.

There has been enough evidence to suggest that certain sectors of the global population are looking to Bitcoin to be their life raft in a time where the Federal Reserve is printing trillions of dollars and putting the value of the currency at risk. Low to negative interest rates are also making people look towards other stores of value.

Now, with the US government and the Fed trying to prop up the economy with monetary policies, and with stimulus checks to citizens who have suffered as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, there is suggestion that newly minted money is going towards something that may grow in value.

A chart published by Brian Armstrong, CEO of United States crypto exchange, Coinbase, suggests that a small portion of the American population may be using their coronavirus stimulus checks to purchase cryptocurrency.

Funding for the future

Of course, these stimulation checks are handed out to a portion of the American population that is in need of additional capital in a time where the economy and the working sphere has essentially ground to a halt in many regards.

But, while this money is intended to help people see out these dark times, some people are simply investing it into Bitcoin in the hopes of turning this money into more than just $1,200. In fact, the continued printing of money may lead to the debasement of the dollar and the fall in its buying power whereas Bitcoin is being touted to rise in value with the mining reward halving ahead of us.

Risky business?

Of course, this represents a speculative guess on what this money is being spent on, and not everyone’s situation is the same, but this idea of buying Bitcoin with the free money the government gave you can be seen as risky, or downright brilliant.

Some people may well need the money to see things out in this time of Coronavirus panic, but for others who can afford to risk the money on an investment that is at least anti-correlated to the movement of the traditional markets, it could well be a stroke of genius.