Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz, has highlighted Bitcoin’s underperformance in August compared to other major asset classes. In an X post, El-Erian compared Bitcoin to blue-chip stock indices like the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500, as well as major commodities like gold and oil.
While most asset classes recovered strongly from a market downturn in early August, registering positive returns for the month, Bitcoin stood out as an exception. It, along with Chinese equities and oil, failed to recover from the dip. The Dow gained 3.01% in August, the S&P 500 rose 3.7%, and gold remained relatively flat with a slight decline of 0.39%. However, Bitcoin plunged more than 11%, struggling to recover after the initial dip.
Despite its turbulent August performance, Bitcoin remains the best-performing asset year-to-date, with over 38% gains. However, sentiment surrounding the digital asset has weakened recently. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking Bitcoin’s spot price recorded net inflows of $277 million last week, but August witnessed net outflows of just over $12 million. The cryptocurrency market started September on a weak note, with leading coins tumbling over the weekend. Historically, September has been an unfavorable month for Bitcoin, with average losses of 4.63%.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) is the largest ETF, with assets exceeding $21 billion, according to SoSo Value. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $57,615.69, down 1.3% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
