Bitcoin has remained well supported in today’s trading session after the latest job figures from the US painted a grim picture of the US employment market and the economy as a whole which saw investors flock to assets such as gold and bitcoin as safe haven assets.

The latest numbers showed the number of people filing for unemployment benefits last weeks was more than 6 million which more than doubles the amount of the previous one-week record which was set a week earlier, when over 3 million applied for unemployment benefits.

The usual weekly figure is around 200,000 which shows the devastating affects that the coronavirus is having on the US economy and with the number of cases set to jump, we may see some added interest from the market surrounding bitcoin.

“The newly updated jobless claims report in the U.S. helped fuel a sharp Bitcoin price increase,” said John Iadeluca, founder & CEO of multi-strategy fund Banz Capital

“The release of the jobless claims report also came alongside the report of a near 50% increase in citizens receiving benefits, prompting a migration of investment to what could possibly be deemed ‘safe-haven assets’ due to the data suggesting increasing coronavirus economic fears. This can be further supported by the significant rise in gold & commodity futures in the last 48 hours.” He added.

The US stock market, as well as other world stockmarkets are down around 30 percent from their recent high’s which puts them well and truly in bear territory which is classed as a 20 percent drop from the latest high. This is causing anxiety amongst investors and is also forcing people to seek out new places to park their money out of fear of further losses.

People who earlier, never tried their hand at bitcoin are willing to give it a go as an alternative investment to protect themselves against uncertainty.

“I think that people are seeking cover from what they think is going to happen in the traditional markets,” said Marouane Garcon, managing director of crypto-to-crypto derivatives platform Amulet.

“The headlines are getting scarier by the day so people are trying to figure out where can they go for protection. I don’t know if Bitcoin is the safest place, but many people are willing to try.” He added.