Schlagwort: crypto business

Key Takeaways

• Crypto had moved in line with stocks and other risk assets throughout the interest rate tightening cycle
• This relationship weakened in June amid the crypto regulatory crackdown
• The correlation has recently picked up again, however
• Going forward, relationship may change again as the market anticipates the tightening cycle is coming to a close

We know that within the digital asset space, the different cryptocurrencies are highly correlated. As a generalisation, it is fair to say that many altcoins tend to trade like levered bets on Bitcoin. 

Going beyond the asset class and assessing correlations with other asset types becomes more interesting. One of the most intriguing trends to track is the correlation between Bitcoin and stocks. If we want to assess Bitcoin through a macroeconomic lens, its relationship with other asset classes is of vital importance. 

The last eighteen months have thrown this relationship into a new light, as correlations have been extremely high amid one of the fastest interest rate tightening cycles in recent history. With liquidity sucked out of the economy, risk assets were hammered last year, including Bitcoin. 

Compared to the tech-heavy Nasdaq, Bitcoin’s correlation has been persistently high throughout this period, bar a few noticeable instances. As displayed on the below chart from an analysis we compiled six weeks ago, the collapses of Luna, Celsius and FTX saw deviations in this relationship. 

These explain themselves, as dramatic crypto-specific episodes that had no effect on stocks. However, the more recent deviation was bigger than any: coming in June amid the regulatory crackdown (chart is taken from June 15th, a week after the Binance and Coinbase lawsuits). 

In fact, this deviation brought the Nasdaq’s correlation with Bitcoin to a five-year low. If we now re-run this chart, we see the correlation has picked back up again, rising to 0.5 and trending upwards.

This highlights what we already knew: the deviation is only temporary. It came following a month where the Nasdaq jumped 10% off softer forecasts around the future path of interest rate hikes, while Bitcoin fell 9% over the same time period as lawmakers tightened their squeeze on the industry, suing the two largest exchanges and confirming several tokens constituted securities.  

The climate has picked up for crypto since. Ripple won an important case (or, partially won, but the result was undoubtedly positive for the space), while a slew of spot ETF applications have also served to increase optimism. 

While the deviation was always going to be temporary, going forward in the medium-term, things could get more interesting. This is because, finally, the market is anticipating that the majority of interest rate hikes are in the rearview window, with perhaps only one more still to be endured, if even. 

This could release the shackles which have been around Bitcoin’s ankles, and it remains to be seen how the asset will henceforth move in relation to the stock market. We know that the correlation picked up as soon as the Federal Reserve began hiking interest rates; correlations go to 1 in a crisis, and there is a flight to quality – risk assets suffer in that scenario, and that is exactly what we saw. 

There is every chance that both stocks and Bitcoin will continue to trade in tandem, but if/when this tightening cycle ends, it will at least give the market a fresh opportunity to trade them whilst global liquidity is not being pulled off the table. 

Regardless of the relationship between the duo, the below chart shows just how dependent Bitcoin has been on yields – the two-year treasury yield, plotted on an inverse scale, has moved exceptionally closely with Bitcoin, ever since the latter’s all-time high in November 2021. 

How will Bitcoin’s relationship with gold change?

It is Bitcoin’s relationship with gold that provides an equal amount of intrigue, given the former’s designs on becoming some sort of digital equivalent of the latter. Should Bitcoin become a store of value, it will need to become a little more boring with regard to price movements – something gold is well known for. 

However, correlation between the two assets has dipped, moving in the opposite direction to that of stocks. From rising markedly this year, it has fallen sharply in the last month. 

If Bitcoin is to achieve what so many want to do – become an uncorrelated asset capable of offering a portfolio hedge properties – it must flip the script here. Its relationship with stocks will need to loosen, while it will need to get closer to the way gold trades. 

Having said that, Bitcoin has been around only 14 years, and has traded with reasonable liquidity for far less than that. It is still finding its feet, and it remains early – certainly compared to gold, which has been around for thousands of years. 

The post Crypto’s correlation with stocks rising again following temporary deviation appeared first on CoinJournal.

Key Takeaways

• Crypto volatility has been dropping all year, with Bitcoin’s volatility now at three-year lows
• Volume is also dropping, as the calm markets are not welcomed by traders
• Despite downward-trending volatility, crypto remains highly volatile when compared to other asset classes

Crypto markets are known for violent volatility, capable of both spiking and collapsing in the blink of an eye. 

Thus far this year, however, that hasn’t been the case. Volatility has been trickling steadily downward across the space. Assessing the realised volatility of Bitcoin over a rolling one-month window, the metric is currently at a three-year low. 

This comes despite Bitcoin having had a bumper year thus far, the asset currently up 76%, treading water around the $30,000 mark. In the past, Bitcoin has oscillated wildly, but this run-up from the low of $15,500 late last year has been distinguished by a steady climb rather than the turbulent ups and downs we have come to expect. 

The pattern is not unique to the world’s biggest crypto, either – volatility is falling across the board. The easy way to illustrate this is by looking at Ether. Historically, the price of ETH has been more volatile than BTC, but the divergence has narrowed this year, and Ether is now trading with similar volatility to its big brother. 

This relative calm in crypto markets is good on one level, given one of Bitcoin’s most-cited criticisms is its extreme volatility, which most agree it will need to overcome should it ever take the status of a reputable store of value. 

Not everyone is a winner, though. Traders rely on volatility and hence these serene times are not exactly a boon. If we look at spot trading volume, the drawdown has been steep. Granted, there are myriad factors at play here, including regulation, a drawdown in prices, lockdowns ending, scandals (FTX and the SEC lawsuits) and so on, but the lack of volatility is not helping. 

The below chart from The Block shows quite how far spot volume has fallen. 

Even derivatives trading volume, which had been more stout, has fallen off since April – likely a better gauge for traders than assessing spot volume. Liquidity is not as much of a concern in derivatives markets as it has become in spot markets, but the last few months have begun to see some thinning out there, too. 

While the falling volatility is notable, it should be noted that crypto remains a league above trad-fi markets with regard to this metric. Even this three-year low still translates to an annualised volatility of 25% for Bitcoin, which would not be deemed low-risk by any stretch of the imagination. 

To put this up in lights, comparing Bitcoin to gold is always illustrative. Gold is the store of value which has been around for thousands of years, the shiny metal known for its inflation-hedging abilities and lack of correlation to risk assets. For many, Bitcoin’s vision is to claim the title of some sort of digital gold. 

The below chart displays the current gulf between these assets – even after the dampening down in crypto volatility this year, it’s on a completely different planet to gold. 

Alternatively, one can simply compare the daily returns of the assets, which conveys the same thing. 

Thus, while crypto volatility is currently sluggish, it has a long way to go before it matches gold. More importantly, there is no guarantee that this volatility will stay low. Quite the opposite – given the low liquidity in the space, less capital is needed to move crypto markets than has been the case previously. 

In light of this, it feels like the downward trend in volatility (exacerbated in the last couple of months by a classic summer lull in trading) should return. Not to mention the fact that with the interest rate hiking cycle coming to a close, markets could be at an inflection point. It is always hard to predict the future in crypto, but it feels unlikely that digital assets’ volatility will stay at these uncharacteristically low levels for long. 

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