Abstract

This paper performs the asymmetric multifractal cross-correlation analysis to examine the COVID-19 effects on three relevant high-frequency fiat currencies, namely euro (EUR), yen (YEN) and the Great Britain pound (GBP), and two cryptocurrencies with the highest market capitalization and traded volume (Bitcoin and Ethereum) considering two periods (Pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19). For both periods, we find that all pairs of these financial assets are characterized by overall persistent cross-correlation behavior (?xy(0) > 0.5). Moreover, COVID-19 promoted an increase in the multifractal spectrum's width, which implies an increase in the complexity for all pairs considered here. We also studied the Generalized Cross-correlation Exponent, which allows us to verify that there is no asymmetric behavior between Bitcoin and fiat currencies and between Ethereum and fiat currencies. We conclude that investing simultaneously in major fiat currencies and leading cryptocurrencies can reduce the portfolio risk, leading to improvement in the investment results. © 2023 World Scientific Publishing Company.