Happy Friday, Trista here.

BlackRock’s Larry Fink famously touts Bitcoin as digital gold. But this week was yet another reminder that Bitcoin — and indeed, crypto in general — behaves as anything but.

Gold on Friday hit $3,000 an ounce for the first time. Trump’s zig-zagging tariff policies are giving investors whiplash, driving them into havens like gold. The precious metal has spiked and so has Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” the VIX, which is up 57% over the past month.

Words like “correction” and “recession” are popping up an awful lot — alongside more colourful terms like “psychodrama.”

Investors are dumping risky assets at levels not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic. The S&P 500 is down more than 8% from its February 19 record, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has plunged more than 10% from a recent high.

All of this upheaval should, in theory, send investors to Bitcoin. It’s a finite asset, it’s never been hacked, and backers like Fink claim it’s a great hedge against currency debasement and geopolitical strife.

And yet, time and again, Bitcoin’s price behaves just like a tech stock on the Nasdaq.

The trend has not gone unnoticed. The ETF Store’s Nate Geraci said on X:  “If Bitcoin equals ‘digital gold,’ then time to act like it. Otherwise, it will reinforce the narrative that it’s simply a high beta asset.”

Bitcoin price stabilises after huge slide. Four experts on what comes next

The crypto market has lost almost a quarter of its value since President Donald Trump was inaugurated. Now everyone wonders what’s next. So we asked around.

Bitcoin ETF meltdown nears $1bn — but JPMorgan sees a reprieve

Investors have been dumping Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. It’s been brutal.

Bitcoin traders pile $550m into bets that the price will go even lower

Traders are covering the downside risk of a Bitcoin slump this month. Analysts are still bullish on long-term price recovery.

Post of the Week

The market has been in turmoil over the past month. As always, some traders put their bets on buying the dip before, as they hope, the market bounces back.

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