The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on multifractals of price returns and trading volume variations of cryptocurrencies

We investigate the multifractal properties of daily price returns and trading volume variations in 35 cryptocurrencies by using the method of wavelet leaders prior and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The obtained results from the analysis of scaling exponent functions and multifractal spectrums show that, in general, price returns and trading volume variations exhibit multifractal properties prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and that they tend to exhibit monofractal behavior during the pandemic. As a result, the level of multifractality diminished during the COVID-19 for both price returns and trading volume variations. Since complexity in price returns and trading volume variations decreased during the pandemic, cryptocurrencies may offer an interesting investment during times of serious world economic downturns.