IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/ecopln/v58y2025i3d10.1007_s10644-025-09876-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Time-varying return correlations and spillovers between bitcoin and traditional assets: the impact of COVID-19 and US monetary policy

Author

Listed:
  • Licheng Zhang

    (Sun Yat-Sen University)

  • Shengtao Luo

    (Guangdong University of Finance and Economics)

Abstract

Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by value, has witnessed remarkable growth, becoming a popular investment that significantly impacts financial markets. However, its relationship with traditional assets, which is constantly evolving, remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study investigates the time-varying return correlations and spillover effects between Bitcoin and traditional asset classes, highlighting the influences of the COVID-19 pandemic and US monetary policy on these relationships. We find that their connection has increased substantially since the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Moreover, we demonstrate that US monetary policy plays a crucial role in driving this dynamic relationship. Bitcoin moves in tandem with traditional assets and exhibits negative responses during contractionary monetary policy periods after COVID-19. Our findings are beneficial for investors making asset allocation decisions and policymakers formulating regulations. The strengthening link between Bitcoin and traditional assets diminishes its diversification benefits and poses potential threats to financial stability.

Suggested Citation

  • Licheng Zhang & Shengtao Luo, 2025. "Time-varying return correlations and spillovers between bitcoin and traditional assets: the impact of COVID-19 and US monetary policy," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1-28, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ecopln:v:58:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10644-025-09876-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10644-025-09876-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10644-025-09876-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10644-025-09876-1?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Symitsi, Efthymia & Chalvatzis, Konstantinos J., 2019. "The economic value of Bitcoin: A portfolio analysis of currencies, gold, oil and stocks," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 97-110.
    2. Degasperi,Riccardo & Hong, Seokki Simon & Ricco, Giovanni, 2020. "The Global Transmission of U.S. Monetary Policy," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1257, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    3. Le, Lan-TN & Yarovaya, Larisa & Nasir, Muhammad Ali, 2021. "Did COVID-19 change spillover patterns between Fintech and other asset classes?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. Dirk G. Baur & Brian M. Lucey, 2010. "Is Gold a Hedge or a Safe Haven? An Analysis of Stocks, Bonds and Gold," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 217-229, May.
    5. Eric T. Swanson & John C. Williams, 2014. "Measuring the Effect of the Zero Lower Bound on Medium- and Longer-Term Interest Rates," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3154-3185, October.
    6. Francis X. Diebold & Kamil Yilmaz, 2009. "Measuring Financial Asset Return and Volatility Spillovers, with Application to Global Equity Markets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(534), pages 158-171, January.
    7. Creti, Anna & Joëts, Marc & Mignon, Valérie, 2013. "On the links between stock and commodity markets' volatility," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 16-28.
    8. Ms. Natasha X Che & Alexander Copestake & Davide Furceri & Tammaro Terracciano, 2023. "The Crypto Cycle and US Monetary Policy," IMF Working Papers 2023/163, International Monetary Fund.
    9. repec:dau:papers:123456789/14980 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Karau, Sören, 2023. "Monetary policy and Bitcoin," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    11. Jouchi Nakajima, 2011. "Time-Varying Parameter VAR Model with Stochastic Volatility: An Overview of Methodology and Empirical Applications," Monetary and Economic Studies, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan, vol. 29, pages 107-142, November.
    12. 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.
    13. Albrizio, Silvia & Choi, Sangyup & Furceri, Davide & Yoon, Chansik, 2020. "International bank lending channel of monetary policy," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    14. Lieven Baele, 2010. "The Determinants of Stock and Bond Return Comovements," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(6), pages 2374-2428, June.
    15. Seo, Myung Hwan & Koo, Bonsoo & Yang, Yangzhuoran Fin, 2024. "Nonlinear dynamics of Kimchi premium," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    16. Mark Gertler & Peter Karadi, 2015. "Monetary Policy Surprises, Credit Costs, and Economic Activity," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 44-76, January.
    17. Ozdamar, Melisa & Sensoy, Ahmet & Akdeniz, Levent, 2022. "Retail vs institutional investor attention in the cryptocurrency market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    18. Bedi, Prateek & Nashier, Tripti, 2020. "On the investment credentials of Bitcoin: A cross-currency perspective," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    19. Ma, Chaoqun & Tian, Yonggang & Hsiao, Shisong & Deng, Liurui, 2022. "Monetary policy shocks and Bitcoin prices," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    20. Engle, Robert, 2002. "Dynamic Conditional Correlation: A Simple Class of Multivariate Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(3), pages 339-350, July.
    21. Diebold, Francis X. & Yilmaz, Kamil, 2012. "Better to give than to receive: Predictive directional measurement of volatility spillovers," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 57-66.
    22. Kumar, Ashish & Iqbal, Najaf & Mitra, Subrata Kumar & Kristoufek, Ladislav & Bouri, Elie, 2022. "Connectedness among major cryptocurrencies in standard times and during the COVID-19 outbreak," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    23. Hanson, Samuel G. & Stein, Jeremy C., 2015. "Monetary policy and long-term real rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 429-448.
    24. Zihui Yang & Yinggang Zhou, 2017. "Quantitative Easing and Volatility Spillovers Across Countries and Asset Classes," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(2), pages 333-354, February.
    25. Gabauer, David & Gupta, Rangan, 2018. "On the transmission mechanism of country-specific and international economic uncertainty spillovers: Evidence from a TVP-VAR connectedness decomposition approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 63-71.
    26. George Milunovich, 2018. "Cryptocurrencies, Mainstream Asset Classes and Risk Factors: A Study of Connectedness," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 51(4), pages 551-563, December.
    27. Corbet, Shaen & Larkin, Charles & Lucey, Brian & Meegan, Andrew & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2020. "Cryptocurrency reaction to FOMC Announcements: Evidence of heterogeneity based on blockchain stack position," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    28. Hamed Ghiaie, 2024. "Housing, the credit market, and unconventional monetary policies: from the sovereign crisis to the great lockdown," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 76(2), pages 330-350.
    29. Marco Del Negro & Giorgio E. Primiceri, 2015. "Time Varying Structural Vector Autoregressions and Monetary Policy: A Corrigendum," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 82(4), pages 1342-1345.
    30. Bollerslev, Tim, 1990. "Modelling the Coherence in Short-run Nominal Exchange Rates: A Multivariate Generalized ARCH Model," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(3), pages 498-505, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Jiang, Shangrong & Li, Yuze & Lu, Quanying & Wang, Shouyang & Wei, Yunjie, 2022. "Volatility communicator or receiver? Investigating volatility spillover mechanisms among Bitcoin and other financial markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Feng, Huiqun & Zhang, Jun & Guo, Na, 2023. "Time-varying linkages between energy and stock markets: Dynamic spillovers and driving factors," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    3. Evrim Mandacı, Pınar & Cagli, Efe Çaglar & Taşkın, Dilvin, 2020. "Dynamic connectedness and portfolio strategies: Energy and metal markets," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Wen, Danyan & Wang, Yudong, 2021. "Volatility linkages between stock and commodity markets revisited: Industry perspective and portfolio implications," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les & Xu, Danyang, 2021. "Pandemic-related financial market volatility spillovers: Evidence from the Chinese COVID-19 epicentre," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 55-81.
    6. Akhtaruzzaman, Md & Boubaker, Sabri & Lucey, Brian M. & Sensoy, Ahmet, 2021. "Is gold a hedge or a safe-haven asset in the COVID–19 crisis?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    7. Yousaf, Imran & Jareño, Francisco & Tolentino, Marta, 2023. "Connectedness between Defi assets and equity markets during COVID-19: A sector analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    8. Wang, Yizhi & Lucey, Brian M. & Vigne, Samuel A. & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2022. "The Effects of Central Bank Digital Currencies News on Financial Markets," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    9. Antonakakis, Nikolaos & Kizys, Renatas, 2015. "Dynamic spillovers between commodity and currency markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 303-319.
    10. Al-Shboul, Mohammad & Assaf, Ata & Mokni, Khaled, 2023. "Does economic policy uncertainty drive the dynamic spillover among traditional currencies and cryptocurrencies? The role of the COVID-19 pandemic," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les, 2021. "Volatility spillovers during market supply shocks: The case of negative oil prices," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    12. David Gabauer, 2020. "Volatility impulse response analysis for DCC‐GARCH models: The role of volatility transmission mechanisms," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(5), pages 788-796, August.
    13. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-443 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Ata Assaf & Ender Demir & Oguz Ersan, 2025. "What drives the return and volatility spillover between DeFis and cryptocurrencies?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 1302-1318, April.
    15. Ramesh, Shietal & Low, Rand Kwong Yew & Faff, Robert, 2025. "Corrigendum to “Modelling time-varying volatility spillovers across crises: Evidence from major commodity futures and the US stock market” [Energy Economics Volume 143, March 2025, 108225]," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    16. Tsuji, Chikashi, 2020. "Correlation and spillover effects between the US and international banking sectors: New evidence and implications for risk management," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    17. Ko, Hyungjin & Son, Bumho & Lee, Yunyoung & Jang, Huisu & Lee, Jaewook, 2022. "The economic value of NFT: Evidence from a portfolio analysis using mean–variance framework," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    18. Guesmi, Khaled & Fattoum, Salma, 2014. "Return and volatility transmission between oil prices and oil-exporting and oil-importing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 305-310.
    19. Lorna Katusiime, 2018. "Investigating Spillover Effects between Foreign Exchange Rate Volatility and Commodity Price Volatility in Uganda," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-17, December.
    20. Shaen Corbet & John W. Goodell & Samet Gunay & Kerem Kaskaloglu, 2023. "Are DeFi tokens a separate asset class from conventional cryptocurrencies?," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 322(2), pages 609-630, March.
    21. Gong, Xu & Xu, Jun & Liu, Tangyong & Zhou, Zicheng, 2022. "Dynamic volatility connectedness between industrial metal markets," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

    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:kap:ecopln:v:58:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10644-025-09876-1. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.