The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price hasn't been immune to the volatility roiling global stock markets.
To say the least.
Over the last 24 hours, Bitcoin is down 4.0% to US$58,316 (AU$88,161), according to data from CoinMarketCap. That gives the world's biggest cryptocurrency a market cap of US$1.15 trillion.
While the Bitcoin price is up 103% since this time last year, it's down 21% from the all-time high of US$73,750, notched on 14 March this year.
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), the second-biggest crypto with a market cap of US$319 billion, is holding up a little better today. The Ethereum price is down 1.7% over 24 hours, trading for US$2,654.
This sees the Ethereum price up 47% over 12 months. But the world's number two crypto is still down 46% from its own all-time high of US$4,892, which it reached all the way back on 16 November 2021.
Image source: Getty Images
How has the Bitcoin price been moving?
Despite the sizeable 24-hour retrace, the Bitcoin price remains up 1.5% over the past seven days. That trailed the 7.9% one-week gain delivered by the Ethereum price.
As for that volatility, over the past 30 days Bitcoin has traded at lows of US$49,121 and highs of US$69,988.
So, while the one-year gains may be impressive, the token is certainly not living up to its billing as digital gold.
Over the past 30 days the gold price, by comparison, traded at a low of US$2,365 per ounce and a high of US$2,473 per ounce. The yellow metal is currently fetching US$2,452 per ounce.
As you'd expect, some of the wildest volatility for crypto investors came in early August. That's when the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and global stock markets were whipsawing by several percentage points on a daily basis.
Now, when we're talking about the ASX 200 or the S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) a daily move of 3% to 4% is considered huge.
Not so for cryptos.
On 5 August, a day that saw the ASX 200 plunge by 3.7%, the Bitcoin price dropped from US$60,873 to US$49,843 over a 24-hour period. That's an 18.1% loss in a single day.
While Bitcoin has since rebounded 17.0% from that low, investors looking for exposure will need to be able to stomach these kinds of outsized price swings.
Are there ASX ETFs that give crypto exposure?
ASX 200 investors looking for exposure to the Bitcoin price without buying the crypto themselves might want to consider the VanEck Bitcoin ETF (ASX: VBTC).
The exchange-traded fund (ETF) made its debut on the ASX in June.
The VanEck Bitcoin spot ETF is intended to mimic the Bitcoin market price.
VanEck Asia Pacific CEO Arian Neiron explained said VBTC "makes Bitcoin more accessible by managing all the back-end complexity".
Neiron added that "understanding the technical aspects of acquiring, storing and securing digital assets is no longer necessary".
