SFOX, an institutional crypto trading platform, recently released a comprehensive, data-packed analysis on the possible causes of the volatility in the cryptocurrency space over the month of November.
The report, which SFOX released on their website, covers a large amount of raw data, looking at factors such as price fluctuation on a day-to-day basis and trading volume. With the data, SFOX presents arguments on the overall volatility of various prominent cryptocurrencies, and their methodology includes the volatility of the S&P 500 and gold for comparison.
A press release shared with Bitcoin Magazine claims that there are “four factors that contributed to November’s wild ride.” Not only was the “market uncertainty leading up to the Bitcoin Cash fork” a huge point of uncertainty for the space, but the “hash war” between Bitcoin Cash ABC (now recognized solely as Bitcoin Cash) and Bitcoin Cash SV also led to the current instability.
These analyses seem supported by the data that SFOX gathered, as the Bitcoin Cash volatility seems far-and-away to have the highest volatility of the cryptocurrencies studied in the report. ETH, LTC and BTC also showed a steady increase in volatility over this period, but the S&P 500 and gold markets remained consistent by comparison.
The value of cryptocurrencies has become as volatile now as it was during the beginning of the 2018 crash in February, so it should come as little surprise that the data reflects this relationship with regular stocks. Still, the report details many of the most significant events leading up to this volatility spike on a day-by-day basis, specifying exactly where the volatility began to increase.
Specifically, the report hones in on the days preceding the Bitcoin Cash chain split as exacerbating volatility. It also details the SEC’s dual prosecution of Paragon Coin and Airfox and Jay Clayton’s speech at the 2018 Crypto Invest Summit as drivers of this volatility.
The report concludes with a section on important upcoming events in December that may have an impact on the industry’s volatility, as well as some specifics on the math behind the findings. It should be noted that the report signals December 12, 2018, as the date of Bakkt’s future launch, though the potential launch has been rescheduled for January 2019.
SFOX will continually release new monthly reports on volatility in the space, the report concludes.