It is always interesting to see how currencies and other assets perform during the year. The first quarter of 2017 has been quite positive for a lot of currencies. It is anything but surprising to find bitcoin is in the top 5, although there is still a long way to go until it can claim the title of the best performing asset once again.
6. Gold
Ever since Donald Trump became the new US President, investors have been flocking to gold once again. Hedging against future financial instability is never a bad idea, although it appears most of the predicted turmoil has been vastly overstated. That being said, the US Dollar is not exempt from price volatility, which explains why the gold value went up by 8.89% during Q1 of 2017. It will be interesting to see if this trend can be maintained, though.
5. Russian Ruble
Perhaps the biggest surprise on this entire list is the Russian Ruble. Although Russia is a very unusual country when it comes to finances, it would appear the local economy has seen a healthy boost over the past three months. With a 9.5% gain in value, there is now talk about how Vladimir Putin may want to get rid of all ties to the US Dollar. A strong sentiment, although nothing has been set in stone just yet.
4. Mexican Peso
Speaking of currencies gaining a lot of ground compared to the US Dollar, very few people had expected the Mexican Peso to recover any ground. Lo and behold, the Mexican national currency successfully regained 10.74% during the first quarter of 2017. President Trump’s claims of building a wall and blocking remittances have not materialized just yet, but that situation may change in a heartbeat.
3. Bitcoin
Some people will be disappointed to learn bitcoin is only the world’s third-best performing currency right now. Then again, given the price volatility bitcoin has seen over the past few weeks, it is quite remarkable BTC is still in the top three right now. An 11.4% gain has been noted across the exchanges for Q1 2017, and it is believed future gains will materialize over the coming months.
2. Silver
It has been a while since silver outpaced gold as a currency gaining more value over a three-month period. While silver has always been a solid investment alongside gold, it appears the demand for silver is much greater right now. This results in a 14.63% gain over the past few months, pushing the price of silver to US$18.2. Definitely an interesting currency to keep an eye on.
1. Nigerian Naira
It has to be said, the value of the Nigerian Naira has always been rather controversial. There are two sides to this currency, as the black market value has increased by 24.68% this year. The currency’s official value, on the other hand, has dropped by 0.79%. Even when taking both numbers into account, it is impossible to deny the Naira is the world’s best-performingg currency during Q1 of 2017. It all depends on whom one sells the Naira to, by the look of things.
If you want to check out the full list of top best and worst performing currencies in 2017 check out blocklink, which includes a public spreadsheet which provides live updates every 5 minutes.
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