Is the Bottom In? Bitcoin Remains Steady as Stocks Fall

Despite a selloff in stocks late last week, Bitcoin appears to be holding its ground.

The top cryptocurrency by market cap was trading at roughly $19,000 on Monday, as the S&P 500 was down 1% on the day. In fact, digital assets appear to be rivaling the dollar as the best-performing asset in Q3. 

• Bitcoin’s outperformance is also apparent on a 5-day basis. While the coin is up almost 3% in that time, the S&P and NASDAQ were both down roughly 5% over the same period.
• The lack of volatility may signal that cryptos have relatively bottomed during the bear market. Both stocks and crypto have been in steady decline as the Federal Reserve has tightened its monetary policy throughout the year. 
• Historically, Bitcoin and crypto have had a tight correlation with stocks, but with a higher beta. That means that if stocks would rise or fall, Bitcoin would typically follow suit with even greater volatility. 
• However, Bitcoin reached a 40-day correlation with the NASDAQ below 0.5 in July – its lowest since January. Like Monday, stocks were falling at the time, while Bitcoin remained relatively stagnant. 
• Since the end of Q2, The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 100 Index has grown by 5.4%. Other major asset classes – stocks, bonds, commodities, and gold – have all taken losses in that time. 
• Only the dollar has been relatively stronger, rising 7.2% according to Bloomberg’s Dollar Spot Index. 
• Crypto enjoyed a brief pump in Q3 as excitement built over Ethereum’s long-anticipated Merge upgrade. However, most of the gains made during that time were erased after the upgrade went live.