Is crypto outperforming the market?
It’s been a brutal year for cryptocurrencies, with the industry shedding trillions since hitting all-time highs last year. But the crypto market isn’t alone. Stocks, bonds, and many commodities were also riding high just a year ago. So, what we want to know is, is cryptocurrency underperforming or outperforming the market?
Benchmarks
It’s hard to deny the picture we get when comparing benchmark indices and “blue chip” cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is down ~70% year-on-year (YoY), and Ethereum ~67%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is down ~15% and the Dow Jones is down only ~9%. Not an inviting outlook.
And the further down the cryptocurrency totem pole you go, the worse the performance. XRP is down 85%+, Dogecoin 80%+, and Solana ~85%+. And these are three of the top 10 cryptocurrencies.
Other benchmarks in the traditional finance world include NASDAQ, down ~30%, the Russell 2000, down 22%, and the FTSE 100, off ~3%.
Comparisons
Sectors with comparable plummets in stock price — tech, for example — are also worth noting. For example, Meta, the largest social media platform in the world, is down 70% YoY.
Others include Google’s parent company, Alphabet, down ~33%, and Amazon dropping nearly ~38%.
But others, such as Apple have done more than okay. The Cupertino-based firm is the only stock mentioned in this article that’s actually up from a year ago.
Commodities
Commodities, such as gold, silver, uranium, or copper have likewise seen a depreciation in their prices, albeit none close to the extent of the fall endured by cryptocurrencies.
Read more: Bitcoin miners could threaten Paraguay’s power stability
Publicly-listed cryptocurrency companies versus the market
The most well-known crypto companies have certainly underperformed the market, with MicroStrategy — which is now more or less a bitcoin ETF — off ~64%, Coinbase down nearly 80%, and GBTC — the trust that’s failed to turn into a proper ETF — collapsing over 75%.
Even banks specializing in crypto, such as Silvergate and Signature, have seen their stock prices tank more than traditional banking corporations, down ~70% and ~50%, respectively. This is compared to their non-crypto-specific rivals like JP Morgan Chase or Bank of America, only dipping 25% each.
If we get more specific, cryptocurrency mining companies have faired particularly poorly. Here’s a list and their performances since their respective highs last year:
Deep Cuts
All in all, the crypto industry is drastically underperforming other markets. The question that’s still yet to be answered is: Is this a sign of more pain to come for the industry or will cryptocurrencies be blessed with an upswing as economies fall into intense recessions?
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