Bitcoin Begins to Separate from Nasdaq as U.S. Stocks Fall
Has the long-awaited 'decoupling' finally happened? Bitcoin bulls are hoping so.
Author: Christian Sandor | Edited by: Stephen Alpher Updated: Apr 4, 2025 5:22 PM Published: Apr 4, 2025 4:36 PM
What you should know:
- Bitcoin has held relatively steady despite a drop in stocks following Trump's tariff announcement Wednesday evening.
- The difference widened on Friday, when the Nasdaq fell another 5% while Bitcoin managed to rise slightly.
- One analyst suggested that the growing interest in Bitcoin amid market panic is due to active buying by companies following BTC investment strategies.
After a few disappointing weeks that saw Bitcoin (BTC) prices move in unison with the Nasdaq, the world's largest cryptocurrency is showing some signs of movement on its own as stock prices move from lows to lowers.
After the Nasdaq dropped 6% on Thursday and another 5% decline midday Friday, the price of Bitcoin remains at around $83,000. That's up about 1% over the past 24 hours and down just 3.5% since Trump's tariff announcement Wednesday night.
Bitcoin is also significantly outperforming crypto stocks like Coinbase (COIN), MicroStrategy (MSTR), Semler Scientific (SMLR) and miners, which have all lost double-digit percentages over the past two sessions.
The crypto market as a whole is showing gains, with the CoinDesk 20 Index rising, helped by gains of 4-5% in XRP, Solana's SOL, and Cardano's ADA.
“Bitcoin has shown impressive resilience,” said David Hernandez, crypto investment specialist at digital asset manager 21Shares. “After a brief dip below $82,000, it quickly recovered, confirming its status as a macro hedge in times of macroeconomic stress.”
Hernandez added that such a split, if maintained, could increase BTC's appeal among institutional investors seeking protection from volatile stock markets.
Jeff Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered Bank, said last week that bitcoin acts like a tech stock most of the time, but can act as a hedge during market panics, as it did during the U.S. regional banking crisis in March 2023. “Over the last 36 hours, I think we can also add ‘US lockdown’ hedging to the list of bitcoin uses,” he said in a note on Friday.
However, the newfound strength could be due to companies with BTC investment programs, such as Michael Saylor's strategy or GameStop bidding, according to Sean Farrell, head of digital assets at Fundstrat.
“I'm still on the side of the view that this is due to a multi-billion dollar corporate treasury operation,” Farrell wrote on X on Friday. “But if we maintain this strength over the weekend, we'll have to revisit those assumptions.”
