Did the Bitcoin price outperform the ASX 200 in the first quarter?

For most of this year, the Bitcoin price has magnified the moves of share markets.

Bernd Struben

Author bio Bernd Struben earned his BA in economics from the University of Michigan in 1991, with post-graduate studies in environmental economics at the University of Connecticut. Over the years he’s written about and analysed the tourism industry in the Caribbean; Europe’s commercial real estate markets; and, since moving to Australia in 2010, global and Aussie share markets. Bernd studies geopolitical and macroeconomic trends, alongside sector and company specific data, to gauge what he believes could be tomorrow's best investments. In his free time, you might find Bernd at the beach with his family or working on his next science fiction novel. Areas of expertise Australian and global share markets Macroeconomic and geopolitical trends Real estate Education Economics, University of Michigan Favorite investment quote "The four most dangerous words in investing are: 'This time it's different." — Sir John Templeton

Published October 8, 2022 9:00 am AEDT

Over the quarter just past, the Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price hit lows of US$18,290 and a peak of US$25,136.

While that may sound volatile, it's actually considered a fairly tight trading range for BTC.

The world's first crypto kicked off the quarter on 1 July trading for US$19,269. By the end of the day on 30 September, the Bitcoin price stood at US$19,600. (Those prices will vary some depending on your time zone.)

That put the token up 1.8% over the quarter.

So, to answer the question posed in our title, yes, the Bitcoin price outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

The benchmark index shed 1.4% over the quarter. Though, to be fair, that figure doesn't include any dividend payouts that would have been made by some of the index's constituents over the three months.

A youngA young boy dressed as a nerd wears a makeshift helmet and invention which uses many calculators to compute his solutions. — Image source: Getty Images

Why did the Bitcoin price outperform?

For most of this year, the Bitcoin price has tended to magnify the moves we've seen in share markets.

When the ASX 200 heads up 1%, we often see Bitcoin gain two or three times as much. And the same happens in reverse.

There's no single concrete reason why Bitcoin edged higher over the quarter while the ASX 200 edged lower. But one compelling cause looks to be that many of the speculators – or the so-called weak hands – sold their holdings as the token plunged lower this year.

Remember, it was less than a year ago, on 10 November 2021, that the Bitcoin price breached US$68,789. That was when investors still believed interest rates would remain at historic lows for several years to come.

Yet despite rates continuing to rise in Q1, Bitcoin wasn't smashed.

Commenting on the crypto's performance in September, Stephane Ouellette, CEO of FRNT Financial Inc, said "the 'fast-money' speculative crowd may be losing their influence on the space".

As for the current quarter, the Bitcoin price is now at US$19,993, up 2% since 30 September.

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