Cryptocurrencies’ Time to Shine in the World

Using the time-varying copula, we investigate the dynamic dependence between developed and BRICS stock market indices, digital assets, oil, and gold prices for January 2, 2016 to March 31, 2020. Our findings reveal that cryptocurrencies are considered hedge and diversifier assets before the 2020 global pandemic. Dash, Bitcoin, Monero, and Ripple may serve as good protectors against extreme stock markets’ co-movements during the COVID-19 outbreak in many countries. Risks among oil markets cannot be hedged by the kind of cryptocurrencies. In addition, the dynamic dependence between cryptocurrencies and Gold follows the same trend except for a couple of Gold-Dash. These results have important implications for investors and market participants to track the progress of the different safe-haven instruments. Thus, portfolio managers may take into account the few eligible cryptocurrencies for inclusion in their portfolios. Speculators in stock and cryptocurrency markets may use a spread technique to boost their portfolio return.