Stock markets hit new highs last week, but BTC and ETH are suffering

The cryptocurrency industry is often described as a risky asset class that tends to underperform in times of economic uncertainty.

While the stock market also falls into this category, at least to some extent, it has been on a wild run in recent weeks, with multiple new all-time highs for the most prominent indices. At the same time, crypto has suffered, with the biggest digital asset plummeting since March.

US stock market on the move

Perhaps fueled by the hype surrounding Nvidia, the US stock market has been on a massive bull run since the start of the year. Take for example the largest and arguably most prominent index: the S&P 500. It entered 2024 below 4,800, but soared to about 5,500 earlier this week to mark a new peak.

The Nasdaq Composite has had an even more impressive run, rising 19.8% since the start of the year and hitting an all-time high of its own near 18,000 this week.

However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has little connection to the hot tech sector and no exposure to top-performing Nvidia, has underperformed. Its annual gains are less than 4%, but it still managed to paint a new all-time high earlier this year of around 40,000.

However, the situation with risky crypto assets like BTC and ETH is quite different, at least for the last few weeks.

While the stock market has hit new highs, Bitcoin and Ether are down more than 10% from their yearly peaks.

Other major cryptocurrencies like $SOL, $ADAi $LINK have experienced even steeper declines, falling more than 25% from their recent highs. pic.twitter.com/NET1hMjr86

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) June 21, 2024

What about BTC/ETH?

Bitcoin’s year has also been quite bullish, boosted by the approval of spot BTC ETFs in the States in January. While the fourth halving also took place earlier this year, an event typically seen as the catalyst for bull runs, the asset has underperformed since its conclusion.

ETH also saw regulatory scrutiny from the US SEC, as the agency gave the green light to Ethereum ETFs last month. However, they have not yet launched and the ETH price has lost almost all of the gains that occurred after the positive news.

As such, both BTC and ETH are down around 10% from their yearly peaks and decoupled from US exchanges. However, it is worth noting that although they have fallen in recent weeks, they are still more in the green than the indices mentioned.

BTC is up 50% since the start of 2024, while ETH has gained 54% in the same time period.

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