Is Bitcoin a new “big technology” stock?

Bitcoin was once an outsider of the financial market. It was unpredictable, uncorrelated, and had a shaking and immunity in the mood of Wall Street.

But recently? Bitcoin moves like a high-tech stock – Nasdaqdecreases when the risk is turned off.

From April 1st to April 8th, President Donald Trump New tariffs announcedBitcoin plunged from $85,487 to $76,198. That decline came in parallel with a sharp decline in Mega-Cap Tech strains, nearly 11% in a week. Apple (AAPL) has dropped by about 23%. Nvidia (NVDA) fell by almost 11%. Tesla (TSLA) has slid over 14%.

Fast forward to May 23rd. After stocks gathered for a dizzying V-shaped recovery, Bitcoin notched on May 22nd to its new all-time high of $111,970.

This is the latest example of a new pattern.

Bitcoin’s price behavior has undergone a major change since the 2020 pandemic crash. When pitched as “digital gold,” Bitcoin tends to swing in sync with stocks, particularly high-tech indexes.

“In 2025, Bitcoin is no longer a purely speculative asset. It is part of the institutional financial system,” says Christopher Gunnatty, global research director at WisdomTree. “Bitcoin is increasingly judged not only by its ideology but also by its integration. How well it suits our modern global portfolio?”

Bitcoin and Big Tech have become more and more lockstep since Covid

Before the pandemic, Bitcoin’s daily price movements had little in common with traditional financial markets. According to an analysis by the International Monetary Fund, between 2017 and 2019, the correlation with the S&P 500 hovered near zero. Bitcoin did not move and tracked by stocks merchandise And they didn’t act like bonds.

It supported the theory that Bitcoin is a diversification tool or hedge. Of course, few investors heard of Bitcoin at the time, but they didn’t hold it in their portfolio.

Then came in March 2020.

The market crashed and the central bank pressed the panic button on a massive stimulus package, and a link to Bitcoin stocks emerged.

One study in a recent study by FTSE Russell found that the correlation with US tech stocks increased to 0.52 after covid, a six-fold increase. It’s a strong relationship. More risky debt market High yield bondsstarted moving along with Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, it Correlation with money – Perhaps that analog cousin moved from negative to positive, but remained low at 0.15. As JP Morgan analysts pointed out in their mid-term outlook report, Gold continues to be less risky than Bitcoin.

Instead of acting like a safe haven or hedge, post-Covid Bitcoin is volatile, reactive and deeply connected with investor sentiment.

5 Reasons Why Bitcoin Starts Behavior Like a Big Tech Stock

1. Stimulus fueled the Bitcoin boom

Financial responses in the Covid era have killed cheap money on the market. Speed ​​cuts and trillions of fiscal stimulus have set fire to the ground under everything from stocks to codes.

Investors were washed away with cash, stuck at home, stacked up in meme stocks, growth stocks and codes. Bitcoin has skyrocketed. So did Tesla. So did Ethereum. The same was true for GameStop (GME).

But both stocks and Bitcoin fell together when inflation surged in 2022 and when the Federal Reserve tightened its belt by raising interest rates.

Investors had the money to grow during lockdown, and millions of people chose to bet on big technology and Bitcoin.

2. Bitcoin rides on the same hype cycle as technology

Crypto and Tech shares share a common fanbase filled with young, online and FOMOs.

JP Morgan analysts note that Bitcoin is trading in the same way as small tech stocks.

“Both Bitcoin and Big Tech appeal to similar risk tolerance and secular convicted investors in the transformation system. AI for the leading Bitcoin technology and distributed finance,” says Gunnatti.

Both Crypto and Big Tech are supported by the story. It helps explain why Bitcoin and Nasdaq often peak together and plunge. They are riding a wave of investor expectations.

3. Facility money changes the way Bitcoin moves

The rise from a niche experiment in Bitcoin to institutional assets also helped change the game. Hedge funds, asset managers, and even pension funds began allocating capital to Bitcoin in 2022. This trend continues to this day.

This has resulted in overlap between the Fiat-based financial system and crypto.

“Passive strategies, algorithmic trading, and cross-asset portfolio models often bring them together as “innovation beta” or macrolabor growth proxy,” says Gunnatti.

Spot release Bitcoin ETF Early 2024, the line between traditional finance and cryptocurrency became even more blurred. Investors no longer need to make a fuss about crypto wallets and exchanges. IRAopening the door to a larger audience.

It didn’t take long for investors to load into the Bitcoin ETF. In 2024 alone, more than a dozen new funds raised $36 billion in capital, boosting $110 billion in total assets.

“This makes Bitcoin more sensitive to macro conditions (liquidity, rates, geopolitical stress), but is influenced by traditional investors’ behavior such as rotation and rebalancing,” says Gunnatty.

4. Regulations are no longer a barrier

The momentum of the policy is pushing Bitcoin even more into the mainstream. One of the clearest examples is Trump’s return to the White House. He is the first Pro Bitcoin PresidentAnd the second Trump terminology is expected to create a more friendly regulatory environment.

It’s a magnificent change. Bitcoin was launched in 2009 as a decentralized alternative to the traditional financial system in the wake of the Great Recession. Its founder, Nakamoto Atoshi, would never have imagined gaining legitimacy under the leadership of the US president.

The new administration has already dialed an anti-cryptography policy, starting with the abolition of the SEC on SAB 121. The change will allow banks to retain Bitcoin and other digital assets, unlocking the institution’s money flood and bringing Bitcoin into a regulated market.

At the global stage, the European market under European Cryptocurrency Regulation (MICA) opens the door to institutional players.

5. When fear hits, bitcoin will also be executed

The “digital gold” story is not endured under stress. During the March 2020 crash, Bitcoin lost half its value in just a few days. Investors wanted dollars rather than digital coins.

“Bitcoin cannot be trusted as a short-term hedge against stock drawdowns,” Gunnatti says. “During market stress, Bitcoin often acts like a risky asset rather than a safe haven.”

That has also been true recently. When Trump’s tariff announcement caused a global flight to safety, Gold recovered, with both the Nasdaq and Bitcoin dropping double digits. Capital flowed from speculative assets to traditional hedges like gold. Bitcoin and tech stocks didn’t recover until later.

Bitcoin is not the only asset that changes its behavior over time

Bitcoin conversion is not unique. Asset behavior can change as macroeconomic background changes.

Perhaps one of the best examples is tech stocks from the dot com era.

In the 1990s, early internet companies were very speculative. Overly optimistic ratings, zero profits, unpredictable fluctuations. Bubble Burst March 2000. The Nasdaq lost 77% of its value over the next two years, wiping away many of the excess internet companies that have never made profits.

But over time, survivors have matured into radically healthy businesses such as Amazon (AMZN) and Google (Goog, Google). As the valuation model improved, so did the pricing stability.

Bitcoin may be on a similar path.

“Bitcoin has repeatedly shown that it’s here in the long run,” says Joan Nicks, an economics professor at Queens University in New York. “As larger institutional adoption occurs and liquidity increases in the crypto world, Bitcoin is in a good position to appear as a winner, as Amazon and eBay did after the tech boom bust of the late 1990s.”

Experts still have a hard time cherishing Bitcoin

Part of the confusion about Bitcoin’s behavior is that no one knows how to cherish it or even categorize it. Is it currency? merchandise? Decentralized technology protocol?

Unlike stocks, Bitcoin does not generate cash flow. Unlike bonds, you do not pay interest. Also, unlike products, the utility is purely digital. This makes traditional evaluation models very little useful.

Some researchers have tweaked existing frameworks to allow retail investors to measure the value of Bitcoin. However, none of these frameworks fully explain how they work.

Some asset managers are currently using the “mosaic” approach. Blend models based on adoption curves, network effects, and even energy consumption (such as hashrate). Still, none of them work perfectly, making it even more difficult to predict what Bitcoin’s price will do next.

“Bitcoin is traded as a dangerous asset, but ry umpire is still out with traditional asset pricing

The model can properly explain its volatility,” says Nix.

Does Bitcoin continue to work like a big tech stock?

Some analysts believe that the high correlation between Bitcoin and tech stocks remains here. As long as it is treated as a risky asset by institutional players, Bitcoin could continue to move in a wider market.

If so, it may be wise for retail investors to pay more attention to external drivers that affect tech stocks such as interest rates and inflation. Regulation development Network upgrade.

However, others argue that correlations may be changing.

In 2025, Bitcoin prices will still move in sync with Big Technology, but for the same reasons it hasn’t risen, says Gunnatti.

When the overall market is in a “risk-on” mood, it means investors are willing to take more risks with confidence. Bitcoin and tech stocks tend to move together.

“But when the stock market rotates based on sector revenue, Bitcoin often separates,” Gunnatti says.

What’s happening in 2025 shows how the market has evolved. Big technology benefits are primarily about profits. Bitcoin profits are about investors’ beliefs and how much money runs around within the system.

“While there may still be a short burst of correlations, the Bitcoin story is becoming more clear,” Gunnatti says.

So, while Bitcoin may not have completely abandoned its unique identity, it is still more entangled in global finance than ever before. That’s why experts like Nix Caution investors are investors in treating Bitcoin as unstable.

“At this stage of its evolution, there is little consensus about what crypto-specific drivers explain their long-term performance. It’s a speculative risk asset,” says Knicks. “Retail investors should be aware that they allocate things other than just a small portion of their retirement portfolio.”

Checking in with a financial advisor can also be a good move.

Conclusion

For now, Bitcoin is acting like a highly volatile, high beta-tech stock. It rises when investors’ risk appetite rises, and falls when macroeconomic headwinds appear again. Since 2020, correlations with inventory have skyrocketed, with its actions shifting from “digital gold” to “digital nasdaq.”

But it may not last forever. Just like how tech stocks evolved from dot-com chaos to blue chip companies, Bitcoin can chart its own path. Its unique features – fixed supply, diversified design, long-term bullish investors – could bring Bitcoin back to its own class as the market matures.

But for now, anyone treating Bitcoin as a hedge or a safe haven can be disappointed. It tends to ride the same roller coaster as Big Tech – and shows no signs of getting off soon.

Editorial Disclaimer: All investors are advised to conduct their own independent research into investment strategies before making an investment decision. Furthermore, investors recommend that past investment products performance is not a guarantee of future price increases.