Crypto Bulls Frustrated as Bitcoin and Stocks Recouple – to the Downside

While bitcoin (BTC) has struggled mightily over the past months, with its price falling more than 20% since hitting a record high in mid-March, U.S. stocks – as represented by the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 – have seemingly been on a one-way path higher.

Both of those equity averages closed in the green for the seventh consecutive day on Wednesday, with both hitting all-time highs. For the S&P 500, it was its 37th record close of 2024 and for the Nasdaq, its 27th, according to MarketWatch.

A report yesterday in The Block noted that bitcoin’s correlations with those gauges had fallen to multi-month lows – to minus 0.84 with the Nasdaq and minus 0.82 with the S&P 500. (A reading of minus 1 would mean they’re moving essentially the same amount but in opposite directions.)

That’s not the case today. They’re all moving in lockstep. But unfortunately for the bulls, it’s as stocks have turned sharply lower. At midday New York time, the Nasdaq is lower by 1.8% and the S&P 500 by 0.9%. Bitcoin, which earlier in the session climbed above $59,000 on welcome U.S. inflation news, is now lower by 0.6% to $57,500. The broader CoinDesk 20 Index is down 0.4%.

There could be further downside for cryptocurrencies if the equity market’s bad day turns into a broader correction, Joel Kruger, market strategist at the LMAX Group, said in a morning update.

“Right now, the biggest risk we see to crypto assets is the risk that highly overbought U.S. equities could be on the verge of rolling over,” Kruger said. “The correlation isn’t absolute by any means, but there is evidence that would suggest a sharp pullback in stocks could weigh on crypto, at least for a moment.”

Edited by Nick Baker.