While recession fears and uncertainty about President Donald Trump's tariff plans have taken stocks for a ride, bitcoin's resilience through it all "has been nothing but impressive," according to Bernstein. Bitcoin lost about 7% from last Thursday — the day after Trump revealed his sweeping tariffs plan — to this Monday. During the same period, the major stock indexes, which aren't used to seeing the outsized pops and drops that are normal for cryptocurrencies, saw even bigger declines . The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S & P 500 fell about 10% each during that period, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 11%. Investors have new institutional demand, namely bitcoin exchange-traded funds and corporate bitcoin treasuries such as that of MicroStrategy, to thank for bitcoin's recent relative strength, Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani said in a note Tuesday. "Most of the bitcoin sellers have been largely short-term retail traders, thus explaining the bitcoin price resilience," he said. "Historically, bitcoin drawdowns have been larger (~50-70% falls), mostly driven by retail panic and large capitulation by leveraged miners. The transition to institutional ownership has obviously helped, with ETFs now ~5% of total supply and another ~5% owned by corporate treasuries." Bitcoin on Tuesday was little changed while stocks rallied on hopes for U.S. tariff deals. The crypto is down almost 30% from its January record. Chhugani noted that while bitcoin is down 15% this year, bitcoin ETF outflows are still positive — with about $770 million in inflows year to date and $911 million in outflows over the past 30 days on $94 billion of assets under management — "reflecting higher quality capital." Corporate bitcoin treasuries have also driven demand with capital duration beyond five years, he added. Although bitcoin still trades day to day like a tech stock , the analyst maintains that its growing institutional adoption has also strengthened its digital gold thesis. "Bitcoin price action during a global crisis has always been a subject of controversy — it almost never decouples and acts as hedge … and most often, demonstrates higher correlation with tech stocks (Mag 7 in current context)," he said. "This still does not take away from its longer term outperformance as a digital 'store of value' asset … [with] just under $2 trillion bitcoin market value versus over $20 trillion for gold, it trades as a higher volatility and more liquid version of gold." — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting. Get Your Ticket to Pro LIVE Join us at the New York Stock Exchange! Uncertain markets? Gain an edge with CNBC Pro LIVE , an exclusive, inaugural event at the historic New York Stock Exchange. In today's dynamic financial landscape, access to expert insights is paramount. As a CNBC Pro subscriber, we invite you to join us for our first exclusive, in-person CNBC Pro LIVE event at the iconic NYSE on Thursday, June 12. Join interactive Pro clinics led by our Pros Carter Worth, Dan Niles and Dan Ives, with a special edition of Pro Talks with Tom Lee. You'll also get the opportunity to network with CNBC experts, talent and other Pro subscribers during an exciting cocktail hour on the legendary trading floor. Tickets are limited!
