2023-04-24 20:03:06
The bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank on March 8 and the takeover of Credit Suisse ten days later caused shareholders to lose huge amounts. These two events increased uncertainty in the financial markets. Many investors fear a new financial crisis.
“Recent events in the financial markets have increased uncertainty,” confirmed Monday at 7:30 p.m. Arthur Jurus, director of investments at the private bank Oddo BHF Switzerland. “And in this context, gold was a safe haven asset that was widely sought following by investors. Either physically by buying bullion, or financially by buying products indexed to gold”, indicates the economist.
While these financial products linked to the price of gold are popular with bankers and pension funds, many individuals remain attached to physical gold, as noted by Alessandro Soldati, director of Gold Avenue, a sale of gold and precious metals.
“At Gold Avenue, we saw a real increase in demand in early March, almost ten times the usual weekend demand, when there were all the tensions related to Credit Suisse and the various banks.
The price of gold has gained 10%
Between March 8 and April 13, the price of gold gained 10%. But gold is not the only alternative sought following in the face of the vagaries of equities and the risks of banks. There are also cryptocurrencies, born following the 2008 banking crisis.
For Cyrus Fazel, co-founder of the financial exchange platform SwissBorg, it takes on its full meaning today.
“Bitcoin is clearly digital gold”, underlines the entrepreneur from Lausanne. “It comes from ten years ago, when the bank Lehman Brothers fell. Bitcoin was created to show the world that you might in fact potentially have decentralized finance.”
On March 9, Bitcoin fell below 18,000 francs. On April 14, it once more exceeded 28,000 francs. Now even wary and sometimes elderly customers are investing in Bitcoin. These savers are no longer afraid of cryptocurrencies.
Matthieu Hoffstetter/fgn
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