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Can Bitcoin Replace Gold in an Investment Portfolio?

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  • Irene Henriques

    (Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada)

  • Perry Sadorsky

    (Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada)

Abstract

Bitcoin is an exciting new financial product that may be useful for inclusion in investment portfolios. This paper investigates the implications of replacing gold in an investment portfolio with bitcoin (“digital gold”). Our approach is to use several different multivariate GARCH models (dynamic conditional correlation (DCC), asymmetric DCC (ADCC), generalized orthogonal GARCH (GO-GARCH)) to estimate minimum variance equity portfolios. Both long and short portfolios are considered. An analysis of the economic value shows that risk-averse investors will be willing to pay a high performance fee to switch from a portfolio with gold to a portfolio with bitcoin. These results are robust to the inclusion of trading costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Irene Henriques & Perry Sadorsky, 2018. "Can Bitcoin Replace Gold in an Investment Portfolio?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:11:y:2018:i:3:p:48-:d:163664
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Syed Abul, Basher & Perry, Sadorsky, 2022. "Forecasting Bitcoin price direction with random forests: How important are interest rates, inflation, and market volatility?," MPRA Paper 113293, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Chu, Jeffrey & Zhang, Yuanyuan & Chan, Stephen, 2019. "The adaptive market hypothesis in the high frequency cryptocurrency market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 221-231.
    5. Seyram Pearl Kumah & Jones Odei Mensah, 2022. "Are cryptocurrencies connected to gold? A wavelet‐based quantile‐in‐quantile approach," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 3640-3659, July.
    6. Wang, Peijin & Zhang, Hongwei & Yang, Cai & Guo, Yaoqi, 2021. "Time and frequency dynamics of connectedness and hedging performance in global stock markets: Bitcoin versus conventional hedges," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    7. Nikolaos A. Kyriazis, 2020. "Is Bitcoin Similar to Gold? An Integrated Overview of Empirical Findings," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, May.
    8. Díaz, Antonio & Esparcia, Carlos & Huélamo, Diego, 2023. "Stablecoins as a tool to mitigate the downside risk of cryptocurrency portfolios," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. Rubaiyat Ahsan Bhuiyan & Afzol Husain & Changyong Zhang, 2023. "Diversification evidence of bitcoin and gold from wavelet analysis," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-36, December.
    10. Ji, Qiang & Bouri, Elie & Roubaud, David & Kristoufek, Ladislav, 2019. "Information interdependence among energy, cryptocurrency and major commodity markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1042-1055.
    11. BRIK, Hatem & El OUAKDI, Jihene & FTITI, Zied, 2022. "Roles of stable versus nonstable cryptocurrencies in Bitcoin market dynamics," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    12. Christian M. Hafner, 2020. "Alternative Assets and Cryptocurrencies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-3, January.
    13. Uzonwanne, Godfrey, 2021. "Volatility and return spillovers between stock markets and cryptocurrencies," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 30-36.
    14. Branimir Cvitko Cicvarić, 2020. "Volatility of Cryptocurrencies," Notitia - journal for economic, business and social issues, Notitia Ltd., vol. 1(6), pages 13-23, December.
    15. Anoop S Kumar & Taufeeq Ajaz, 2019. "Co-movement in crypto-currency markets: evidences from wavelet analysis," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 1-17, December.
    16. Serda Selin Ozturk, 2020. "Dynamic Connectedness between Bitcoin, Gold, and Crude Oil Volatilities and Returns," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, November.
    17. Pele, Daniel Traian & Wesselhöfft, Niels & Härdle, Wolfgang Karl & Kolossiatis, Michalis & Yatracos, Yannis, 2019. "Phenotypic convergence of cryptocurrencies," IRTG 1792 Discussion Papers 2019-018, Humboldt University of Berlin, International Research Training Group 1792 "High Dimensional Nonstationary Time Series".
    18. Caner Ozdurak & Alican Umut & Tugba Ozay, 2022. "The Interaction of Major Crypto-assets, Clean Energy, and Technology Indices in Diversified Portfolios," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(2), pages 480-490, March.

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