IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v47y2022ipas1544612321005341.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding digital bubbles amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from DeFi and NFTs

Author

Listed:
  • Maouchi, Youcef
  • Charfeddine, Lanouar
  • El Montasser, Ghassen

Abstract

This paper investigates digital financial bubbles amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a sample of 9 DeFi tokens, 3 NFTs, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, we detect several bubbles overlapping the examined cryptoassets. We also uncover DeFi and NFT-specific bubbles in Summer 2020 suggesting distinct driving factors for this class of assets. We document that DeFi and NFTs bubbles are less recurrent but have higher magnitudes than cryptocurrencies’ bubbles. We also find that COVID-19 and trading volume exacerbate bubble occurrences, while Total Value Locked (TVL) is negatively associated with cryptoassets’ bubbles. Our results suggest that TVL can be used as a tool for market monitoring.

Suggested Citation

  • Maouchi, Youcef & Charfeddine, Lanouar & El Montasser, Ghassen, 2022. "Understanding digital bubbles amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from DeFi and NFTs," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:47:y:2022:i:pa:s1544612321005341
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2021.102584
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612321005341
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2021.102584?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rubbaniy, Ghulame & Polyzos, Stathis & Rizvi, Syed Kumail Abbas & Tessema, Abiot, 2021. "COVID-19, Lockdowns and herding towards a cryptocurrency market-specific implied volatility index," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    2. Corbet, Shaen & Lucey, Brian & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2018. "Datestamping the Bitcoin and Ethereum bubbles," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 81-88.
    3. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Benlagha, Noureddine & Maouchi, Youcef, 2020. "Investigating the dynamic relationship between cryptocurrencies and conventional assets: Implications for financial investors," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 198-217.
    4. Caspi, Itamar & Katzke, Nico & Gupta, Rangan, 2018. "Date stamping historical periods of oil price explosivity: 1876–2014," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 582-587.
    5. Alexander Guzmán & Christian Pinto-Gutiérrez & María-Andrea Trujillo, 2021. "Trading Cryptocurrencies as a Pandemic Pastime: COVID-19 Lockdowns and Bitcoin Volume," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(15), pages 1-15, July.
    6. Barberis, Nicholas & Greenwood, Robin & Jin, Lawrence & Shleifer, Andrei, 2018. "Extrapolation and bubbles," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(2), pages 203-227.
    7. Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les, 2017. "Are there bubbles in exchange rates? Some new evidence from G10 and emerging market economies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 419-442.
    8. Divakaruni, Anantha & Zimmerman, Peter, 2021. "Uncovering Retail Trading in Bitcoin: The Impact of COVID-19 Stimulus Checks," SocArXiv khw8a, Center for Open Science.
    9. Geuder, Julian & Kinateder, Harald & Wagner, Niklas F., 2019. "Cryptocurrencies as financial bubbles: The case of Bitcoin," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    10. Kyriazis, Nikolaos & Papadamou, Stephanos & Corbet, Shaen, 2020. "A systematic review of the bubble dynamics of cryptocurrency prices," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    11. Yongheng Deng & Eric Girardin & Roselyne Joyeux & Shuping Shi, 2017. "Did bubbles migrate from the stock to the housing market in China between 2005 and 2010?," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 276-292, August.
    12. Anastasiou, Dimitrios & Ballis, Antonis & Drakos, Konstantinos, 2021. "Cryptocurrencies’ Price Crash Risk and Crisis Sentiment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    13. Neil Kellard & Denise Osborn & Jerry Coakley & Isabel Figuerola-Ferretti & Christopher L. Gilbert & J. Roderick McCrorie, 2015. "Testing for Mild Explosivity and Bubbles in LME Non-Ferrous Metals Prices," Journal of Time Series Analysis, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 763-782, September.
    14. Adrian (Wai-Kong) Cheung & Eduardo Roca & Jen-Je Su, 2015. "Crypto-currency bubbles: an application of the Phillips-Shi-Yu (2013) methodology on Mt. Gox bitcoin prices," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(23), pages 2348-2358, May.
    15. Enoksen, F.A. & Landsnes, Ch.J. & Lučivjanská, K. & Molnár, P., 2020. "Understanding risk of bubbles in cryptocurrencies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 129-144.
    16. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Maouchi, Youcef, 2019. "Are shocks on the returns and volatility of cryptocurrencies really persistent?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 423-430.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bejaoui, Azza & Frikha, Wajdi & Jeribi, Ahmed & Bariviera, Aurelio F., 2023. "Connectedness between emerging stock markets, gold, cryptocurrencies, DeFi and NFT: Some new evidence from wavelet analysis," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 619(C).
    2. Chu, Jeffrey & Chan, Stephen & Zhang, Yuanyuan, 2023. "An analysis of the return–volume relationship in decentralised finance (DeFi)," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 236-254.
    3. Xu, Guiyang & Li, Guanggui & Sun, Peibo & Peng, Dan, 2023. "Inefficient investment and digital transformation: What is the role of financing constraints?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    4. Tian, Yingjie & Xie, Yuhao & Su, Duo & Zhao, Xiaoxi, 2023. "Picture For Proof(PFPs): Aesthetics, IP and post launch performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
    5. Eray Gemici & Muslum Polat & Remzi Gök & Muhammad Asif Khan & Mohammed Arshad Khan & Yunus Kilic, 2023. "Do Bubbles in the Bitcoin Market Impact Stock Markets? Evidence From 10 Major Stock Markets," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.
    6. Zhang, Luyao & Sun, Yutong & Quan, Yutong & Cao, Jiaxun & Tong, Xin, 2023. "On the Mechanics of NFT Valuation: AI Ethics and Social Media," OSF Preprints qwpdx, Center for Open Science.
    7. Qiao, Xingzhi & Zhu, Huiming & Tang, Yiding & Peng, Cheng, 2023. "Time-frequency extreme risk spillover network of cryptocurrency coins, DeFi tokens and NFTs," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    8. Cevik, Emrah Ismail & Gunay, Samet & Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Destek, Mehmet Akif & Bugan, Mehmet Fatih & Tuna, Fatih, 2022. "The impact of digital finance on the natural resource market: Evidence from DeFi, oil, and gold," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Wael Hemrit & Noureddine Benlagha & Racha Ben Arous & Mounira Ben Arab, 2023. "Exploring the time‐frequency connectedness among non‐fungible tokens and developed stock markets," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 192-207, October.
    10. Yang, Hui & Ferrer, Román, 2023. "Explosive behavior in the Chinese stock market: A sectoral analysis," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    11. Wang, Yizhi, 2022. "Volatility spillovers across NFTs news attention and financial markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. Dominik Metelski & Janusz Sobieraj, 2022. "Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Projects: A Study of Key Performance Indicators in Terms of DeFi Protocols’ Valuations," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-23, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bellón, Carlos & Figuerola-Ferretti, Isabel, 2022. "Bubbles in Ethereum," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    2. Yang Hu, 2023. "A review of Phillips‐type right‐tailed unit root bubble detection tests," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 141-158, February.
    3. Almeida, José & Gonçalves, Tiago Cruz, 2023. "A systematic literature review of investor behavior in the cryptocurrency markets," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    4. Ozkan Haykir & Ibrahim Yagli, 2022. "Speculative bubbles and herding in cryptocurrencies," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-33, December.
    5. Jiang, Yonghong & Wu, Lanxin & Tian, Gengyu & Nie, He, 2021. "Do cryptocurrencies hedge against EPU and the equity market volatility during COVID-19? – New evidence from quantile coherency analysis," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Gomis-Porqueras, Pedro & Shi, Shuping & Tan, David, 2022. "Gold as a financial instrument," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    7. Eray Gemici & Muslum Polat & Remzi Gök & Muhammad Asif Khan & Mohammed Arshad Khan & Yunus Kilic, 2023. "Do Bubbles in the Bitcoin Market Impact Stock Markets? Evidence From 10 Major Stock Markets," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.
    8. Hudepohl, Tom & van Lamoen, Ryan & de Vette, Nander, 2021. "Quantitative easing and exuberance in stock markets: Evidence from the euro area," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    9. Alexander Guzmán & Christian Pinto-Gutiérrez & María-Andrea Trujillo, 2021. "Trading Cryptocurrencies as a Pandemic Pastime: COVID-19 Lockdowns and Bitcoin Volume," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(15), pages 1-15, July.
    10. Skrobotov Anton, 2023. "Testing for explosive bubbles: a review," Dependence Modeling, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-26, January.
    11. Yao, Can-Zhong & Li, Hong-Yu, 2021. "A study on the bursting point of Bitcoin based on the BSADF and LPPLS methods," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    12. Parthajit Kayal & Purnima Rohilla, 2021. "Bitcoin in the economics and finance literature: a survey," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(7), pages 1-21, July.
    13. Peng‐Fei Dai & John W. Goodell & Luu Duc Toan Huynh & Zhifeng Liu & Shaen Corbet, 2023. "Understanding the transmission of crash risk between cryptocurrency and equity markets," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 539-573, August.
    14. Shuyu Zhang & Walter Aerts & Dunli Zhang & Zishan Chen, 2022. "Positive tone and initial coin offering," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2237-2266, June.
    15. Agosto, Arianna & Cerchiello, Paola & Pagnottoni, Paolo, 2022. "Sentiment, Google queries and explosivity in the cryptocurrency market," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 605(C).
    16. Svogun, Daniel & Bazán-Palomino, Walter, 2022. "Technical analysis in cryptocurrency markets: Do transaction costs and bubbles matter?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Bazán-Palomino, Walter, 2022. "Interdependence, contagion and speculative bubbles in cryptocurrency markets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    18. Ştefan Cristian Gherghina & Liliana Nicoleta Simionescu, 2023. "Exploring the asymmetric effect of COVID-19 pandemic news on the cryptocurrency market: evidence from nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag approach and frequency domain causality," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-58, December.
    19. Boubaker, Sabri & Liu, Zhenya & Sui, Tianqing & Zhai, Ling, 2022. "The mirror of history: How to statistically identify stock market bubble bursts," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 128-147.
    20. Bikramaditya Ghosh & Spyros Papathanasiou & Georgios Pergeris, 2022. "Did cryptocurrencies exhibit log‐periodic power law signature during the second wave of COVID‐19?," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 51(3), November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; DeFi; NFTs; Total Value Locked; Digital bubbles; Real-time detection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C58 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Financial Econometrics
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:47:y:2022:i:pa:s1544612321005341. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.