Barclays compares Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) to infectious disease: The investment bank Barclays likens the spread of the Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) (BTC) to that of an “infectious disease” spreading, reports Business Insider Australia. Barclays analysts based their findings on the models that epidemiologists use to track diseases.

The models were compared to Bitcoin (available on Coinbase)’s price swings from the past seven years. The analysts were checking if there were any connections between how an infectious disease spreads and how Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) has performed in the past to see if they could predict any of Bitcoin (available on Coinbase)’s future. The results were surprising.

Barclays stated:

“We developed a theoretical model of an asset price with a pool of speculative investors and compared it with actual Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) price behavior to see what it might imply for the future dynamics. The model has clear parallels with compartmental models of the spread of an infectious disease in epidemiology.”

Barclays says this connection is why Bitcoin (available on Coinbase) and other cryptocurrencies are slackening off now. Back in December, when the crypto hype was at its highest, prices swelled. However, like a spreading infection, it can only continue growing for so long.