The coronavirus pandemic has exposed bitcoin to be not exactly what people believe it to be, a ‘safe haven’ from economic storms. Being a digital currency, many believe that Bitcoin will be to investors what gold has been, a ‘place of refuge.’ Alas, it fell along the renowned vulnerable stocks that plunge with a slight sign of distress.

The cryptocurrency fell over 10% since January, and ended the Q1 of 2020 in a distressful note.

But compared to stocks around the world, Bitcoin has pulled a little resistance to project hope for a better future, though not exactly according to expectation.

The Dow nosedived 800 points to end the Q1 in a sour note, compounding the woes that started early in the year and spells more doom for the coming weeks as President Trump warns of ‘very painful two weeks.’

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 857 points lower, or 3.9%. The S&P 500 fell 3.6% while Nasdaq Composite dropped around 3%. All confirming the fears that the troubles are far from over as coronavirus continues its rampage across the U.S. and rest of the world.

President Trump has warned investors on Tuesday evening to prepare for further devastating falls in the markets as White House officials project between 100,000 and 240,00 COVID-19 deaths.

“This is going to be a rough two-week period. When you look at night the kind of death that has been caused by this invisible enemy, it’s incredible,” Trump said.

On Tuesday, the Dow fell 410 points or 1.8% while S&P 500 dropped 1.6% to mark the worst quarter of its history. The Dow has fallen 23% in the Q1, its biggest fall since 1987, while S&P 500 plunged 20% in the Q1, its worst performance since 2008.

Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group said the Bear Market has been reflected by the swift falls.

“The quarter will be remembered as the fastest and greatest drop in the stock Market for the start of any post-war bear market. This reflects the fact that this Bear is the only one cause by a recession which was simply proclaimed as leaders announced they were essential shutting down the economy. Since a recession was ensured, the Bear skipped all its normal foreplay and simply went right to the end fully reflecting a recession almost immediately,” Paulsen said.

The U.S. oil has also experienced its worst quarter in history as 66% of its value vapored in the Q1 of 2020. Any hope of resuscitation has been further dampened by the production output disagreement among the Alliance led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, which has teamed up with coronavirus to bring the price down below $20. Every country in the oil business is struggling to sell as demand for crude oil took a drastic downturn.

Around the world, only Australia and Saudi recorded 3.6% and 0.5% market increase respectively. The rest stayed tied to the negative zone of the markets with proportionate percentage of falls.

But in this Q1 of plummeting markets, gold has shown resistance by pulling off 4% growth. The defiance display has spurred thousands of investors who are looking for where to put their money and protect their investments from the global economic crisis, to troop in the direction of gold.

The little hope left for cryptocurrency appears to have been dashed on March 12, when $93.5 billion was wiped off the market value, resulting in a 48% crash in bitcoin price. So gold remained true to its ‘safe haven’ theory while bitcoin placed its ‘digital gold’ narrative in doubt.

Though compared to major equity indices, bitcoin has done better, but its performance is not crunch-resistant enough to win the trust of investors. The volatility it has shown in the first three months of the year has been a turn off though there is hope it will get to the point of gold someday.

Vijay Ayyar, head of business development at Luno, cryptocurrency exchange told CNBC that bitcoin is too young to resist the tremendous test of coronavirus that has brought the world economy on its knees. But he believes in time, the digital currency will be strong enough to show immunity in times of global economic crunch.

“Bitcoin is still a relatively smaller asset class that is increasingly uncorrelated to traditional asset classes and this is in the process of being established as we speak. This is why I believe the current market environment is a big test for Bitcoin and given how young the asset class is, it has actually held up quite well.

“Hence, we’re seeing bitcoin lag gold a bit in terms of performance, but one can argue that as we move along in the next few months and years, bitcoin starts to take larger share away from gold and we will see an eventual flippening happen, where bitcoin is at, or larger than, the market cap of gold and market movements in bitcoin start to reflect the overall market more accurately,” Ayyar said.

It is believed by cryptocurrency optimists that given the period of time bitcoin and gold have existed, bitcoin deserves applause for staying behind gold in a time of economic downturn. And that it spells a hopeful future when the cryptocurrency will become immune to economic distress.

It is now a reality that Nigeria is undergoing or experiencing the first lockdown post-military era. What could be said to be close to this present experience was the 1993 June 12 brouhaha. Then, the major theatre of war then was Lagos and other South western states. However, the COVID 19 is no respecter of geographical locations and spread. On Monday, the President, Muhammadu Buhari announced lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja. However, some states too have announced either partial or total lockdown. Kwara State is a North Central state which shares border lines with Ekiti, Osun and Ondo states. 

It was the first state to lock down totally banning intra and inter-state transportation. This was followed by both Ekiti and Osun States after the two states recorded one and two confirmed cases of the virus respectively. As this report is collated, Osun State has recorded three more cases. For Ekiti State, the movement restrictions take effect from 11:59pm on Monday, 31 March, 2020 while Osun stipulated that a total lockdown of the state would commence on early Wednesday morning.

Expectedly, people are the ones who are going to feel the impact of the stay at home order by governments at both federal and local levels. Analysis has shown that a larger percentage of the people rely on daily income. This implies that when they do not go out, they do not have the resources to take care of their daily needs. Opinions sampled across the states on how people have been coping with the partial and the planned total lockdown. Mr. Abdurrahman Okunade is an Osogbo-based lawyer. He is the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Osogbo Chapter. For him the restriction has economic implications.He said “Many forthcoming engagements have been disrupted, thereby causing losses. And any further planning is now impossible. Being a self-employed person, staying at home is very difficult. For a salary earner, something is certain in terms of income at the end of the month, in spite of the lockdown. But for me, no. 

I have bills to pick, but I have no autonomic source of income. Yet, I fear for my health. I need to interact with my clients to earn a living, yet I need to be wary of close interaction with people in order to live.” Abolaji Khadijah is a trader. She sells at the popular Igbona Market in Osogbo. The song on her lips too is about how the lockdown would affect her in terms of her income. When asked what the lockdown means to her, she explained  “I am a trader who relies on daily income as I have a weekly contributory scheme I have to fulfil and when I do not go out to the market, there is no way to fulfil such. It will affect me greatly during and after the lockdown.”

Omolola Oluwasola is a lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti in Ekiti state. Her concern was majorly the artisans and those whose income is based on a daily basis. She posited “we have a problem of inadequate or no stimulus in some states at all in Nigeria unlike what obtains in the United States and other countries where palliative measures are being put in place. In the absence of palliative provisions, what happens to artisans and citizens who cannot feed daily if they do not go out?”, She asked. However, her concern was addressed by the Ekiti State Government that announced a relief package for the most vulnerable in the society. She also ruled the spike in the cost of living as she looks forward to staying at home. She said “Again, because we do not have a functional system, our staying at home means we are operating our finances at a minus, you have to power your electricity with generator by yourself to be up-to-date with global news and to take necessary precautions, store up your household with foodstuffs and other essentials.”

For Abideen Olasupo, a young serial entrepreneur in Ilorin, Kwara State, the lockdown was long overdue and he understood the government’s reluctance to declare it because of the state of the economy. He called for palliative measures for those that would bear the consequence of the lockdown especially those who operate at the lowest rung of the ladder.  He feared the increase in consumption of data used for various purposes during the lockdown.

Oyeyemi Olatunnji is a banker residing in Lagos. He is of the opinion that the lockdown is changing perception of work generally. He noted that ‘we have been asked to work from home from the office. This morning I was in a meeting with colleagues via zoom. It didn’t feel like we were at work.” He observed that the lockdown might not be easy for a larger percentage of Lagosians who stay in their large number in apartments. He said maintaining social distancing might not be an easier task.

Adedolapo Bakare is a lady painter based in Lagos. To her, the lockdown is a necessary approach by the government to be able to manage the pandemic in the country. However, it is affecting her business seriously. She said “my kind of business is such which requires my physical presence  and time meeting with clients and visiting sites for assessment and commencement of projects. Since the lockdown, my hands have been idle and this sure hasn’t been easy.” She said the lockdown is really affecting her business but since the lockdown is a necessary evil affecting all sectors of life, she has to abide.

As many of the states in Nigeria go on total lockdown, the dilemma for many decision makers in those states is what to provide the citizens as a palliative in the midst of a significant drop in productivity and oil price. Whether Nigerians would be able to weather storms is a matter of time.