Bitcoin’s lackluster performance this year has puzzled investors.
Despite record highs in equities, the world’s largest cryptocurrency has struggled to regain momentum while U.S. technology stocks have surged on enthusiasm surrounding AI as it currently trades just below the $62,000 mark, down over 50% from its peak price in October.
Two new outlooks from asset managers Hashdex and Charles Schwab argue the disconnect is temporary, albeit for different reasons.
Samir Kerbage, chief investment officer at Hashdex, said crypto’s recent weakness says more about where investors are allocating capital than about the health of the digital asset ecosystem.
“Capital follows attention and narratives,” Kerbage wrote in a midyear market outlook. “Crypto has benefited from this in the past but right now, attention is elsewhere. AI infrastructure plays, IPO pipelines, macro positioning around rate expectations, are absorbing the flows.”
That rotation, he argued, has overshadowed several structural developments that continue to strengthen crypto’s long-term investment case. Institutional infrastructure is expanding across banks, brokers and payment providers, while regulatory clarity in the U.S. has improved and could strengthen further if Congress passes the CLARITY Act this summer.
Meanwhile, crypto’s underlying usage continues to grow even as prices remain subdued.