Millions of US citizens received a stimulus check worth $1,200 in the last few weeks as government aid to fight the effects prompted by the COVID-19. Interestingly, if that amount was invested in Bitcoin when the first checks were initially received, it would have grown to $1,600 by now.
According to a report, 88.1 million people received a stimulus check wroth $1,200 by April 25th. The first batch was mailed in mid-April, and many people noted they had received theirs by April 17th.
At the same time, the popular US-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, marked an increase of deposits worth exactly $1,200. Typically, about 0.1% of all deposits equal this amount, but it had a one-day spike in mid-April to 0.4%.
Of course, it’s unknown whether the increase is a result of people depositing their checks into Coinbase, but the coincidence is undoubtedly interesting.
Assuming that people used the $1,200 to purchase Bitcoin at the time, their investment would have shown a significant increase in three weeks. On April 17th, the price of the primary cryptocurrency was around $7,050.
At the time of this writing, however, BTC is touching $9,500 – or about 35% higher. Therefore, the presumed investment of $1,200 would now be worth $1,615.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the western world pushed lots of countries, including the US, to initiate nation-wide lockdowns. Consequently, lots of businesses were halted, and 33 million people filed for unemployment since the start of the pandemic.
In an attempt to aid the struggling economy, President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) worth $2.2 trillion. Aside from a sizeable portion given to suffering small and large companies, the Act planned to send $1,200 to single people making less than $75,000 a year and married households bringing in less than $150,000 per year.
For every $100 in annual income above those levels, the paid amounts declined by $5.
In addition to the vast number of unemployed citizens, dozens of millions of other people endured pay cuts from their employers. Therefore, it’s safe to say that many of those affected by the pandemic had to use the stimulus checks for everyday needs, instead of investing them in Bitcoin.
