The S&P 500 Index concisely experienced Bitcoin-level volatility successful the aftermath of US President Donald Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, underscoring the panic and fearfulness gripping accepted markets amid the ongoing commercialized war.
Bloomberg expert Eric Balchunas alerted his followers connected X that the S&P 500’s volatility, arsenic measured by the “SPY US Equity Hist Vol” chart, reached 74 successful aboriginal April, exceeding Bitcoin’s (BTC) 71 level.
Source: Eric Balchunas
The summation marks a important deviation from the S&P 500’s semipermanent volatility average, which is beneath 20.
For Bitcoin though, utmost volatility has been a diagnostic since the asset’s inception.
“Bitcoin’s volatility remains elevated astatine 3.9 and 4.6 times that of golden and planetary equities, respectively,” according to BlackRock.
While Bitcoin’s mean volatility has declined implicit time, it tends to acquisition overmuch higher terms swings than much established assets. Source: BlackRock
Stocks are experiencing crisis-level volatility owed to Trump’s commercialized war, which threatened duties of anyplace from 10% to 50% connected imports from America’s largest trading partners. While Trump has since paused immoderate of his tariffs for 90 days, the medication has ratcheted up duties connected Chinese imports to astatine slightest 145%.
The volatility has besides extended into different assets, astir notably US Treasurys, which experienced a ample sell-off this week. The output connected the 10-year Treasury enslaved is connected way for its steepest rise since 2001.
Related: As Trump tanks Bitcoin, PMI offers a roadmap of what comes next
Despite “macro relief,” Bitcoin remains nether pressure
US equity markets experienced a historical alleviation rally connected April 9 aft Trump’s tariff pause. However, the “macro relief” didn’t widen to Bitcoin oregon its spot speech traded funds (ETFs) successful immoderate meaningful way, which is simply a motion that “institutional assurance remains cautious successful the adjacent term,” Bitfinex analysts told Cointelegraph successful a note.
“After January’s grounds inflows, ETF request has cooled, with respective products seeing nett outflows successful caller weeks,” the analysts said. “This reflects hesitation among ample allocators who whitethorn beryllium waiting for much favorable introduction points oregon clearer regulatory guidance.”
The US spot Bitcoin ETFs person experienced six consecutive days of outflows. Source: Farside
Despite Bitcoin’s disappointing performance, Bitfinex said the 2nd 4th done the extremity of 2025 is perchance bullish for the plus people arsenic a full arsenic “new narratives instrumentality hold,” specified arsenic sovereign accumulation and maturation successful real-world plus tokenization.
Unchained’s manager of marketplace research, Joe Burnett, shared a akin view, arguing that Bitcoin has much charismatic characteristics for semipermanent investors who are disquieted astir authorities argumentation and fiat hazard impacting their portfolios.
While the S&P 500’s volatility spike is apt to beryllium short-lived, Burnett said its caller show “challenges the long-held content that accepted markets are safer, little risky, oregon much stable.”
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