Bitcoin scored a rare achievement on Monday by outperforming the S&P 500.
The largest cryptocurrency rose 2.6% to over $64,000, registering its best daily performance in over a month, according to CoinDesk data. Wall Street’s benchmark equity index, S&P 500, fell by 0.52%.
Bitcoin, therefore, not only outpaced equities but moved in the totally opposite direction. This was once a norm. Bitcoin has spent most of its history being the higher-beta asset relative to stocks, meaning it typically moves more than stocks in both directions.
“BTC outperformed the stock market today. This has become a less common occurrence lately. 1/2 In fact, BTC only outperformed the S&P 500 on around one third of trading days over the last three months,” blockchain analytics firm Glassnode said in a Telegram chat.
Underperforming two-thirds of the time means BTC has been acting less like a higher-beta asset relative to stocks and more like a laggard. Key reasons for that include the AI stock frenzy on Wall Street that has sucked out capital from other corners of the financial market, including cryptocurrencies.
The bear market phase of bitcoin’s self-fulfilling four‑year cycle has also played a role in keeping demand for BTC subdued. BTC peaked above $126,000 in October last year and quickly entered the bear market, which is expected to bottom out by October this year.
