Senior Bloomberg Analyst Says Bitcoin Needs the Small Wins to Be True Alternative Asset

A senior analyst at Bloomberg says Bitcoin must secure small wins to be considered a true alternative asset amid outperformance.

For context, Bitcoin price has gained significant momentum this week, climbing from $84,000 on Monday to nearly $90,000. As of the latest update, Bitcoin stands at $90,790, up 2.85% over the last 24 hours. 

This rally has prompted Balchunas to draw comparisons with traditional financial assets like stocks, treasuries, and gold. Notably, Eric Balchunas, a Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, highlighted Bitcoin’s recent performance and its divergence from broader markets in the past week.

Bitcoin up big yest when stocks down, showing negative correlation to stocks past week or so, better than treasuries (which are unreliable once again), altho gold is in league of own (-98). Obv a ridic small time frame but gotta get get these small wins if it ever wants to be… pic.twitter.com/JydPKuDRNA

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 22, 2025

A Diverging Path from TradFi

Balchunas pointed out that Bitcoin outperformed treasuries, which have been what he calls ‘unreliable’ once again. Balchunas also mentions gold, which is in a league of its own, having diverged by negative 0.983 as it posts massive gains amid the drop in equities.

Notably, gold recently surged to an all-time high of $3,500 per ounce, before retreating slightly to the $3,400 level.

Balchunas acknowledged that the time frame is small but emphasized that Bitcoin needs to secure these small wins if it aims to be considered a true alternative asset. Specifically, these small wins build up to place the asset ahead of global stocks, similar to what gold has observed over the years.

Bitcoin ETF Flows Surge

Other market watchers, including Matthew Sigel, head of research at VanEck, noted that Bitcoin’s rally from its April 7 low had allowed it to break free from its long-standing correlation with US tech stocks.

He noted that as Bitcoin approached its two-week high, Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) saw a surge in inflows, reaching their highest level since January 30.

Bitcoin vs. NASDAQ: Diverging Performance

Elsewhere, Ecoinometrics, a macro data provider, highlighted an interesting divergence between Bitcoin and the NASDAQ, with Bitcoin rising as the NASDAQ struggled. Historically, such divergences have not lasted long.

Bitcoin is climbing.
The NASDAQ is sliding.
That kind of divergence doesn’t usually last.

Historically, when the NASDAQ’s 200-day moving average trend is down, Bitcoin runs into macro headwinds. pic.twitter.com/OLUqqdk1dn

— ecoinometrics (@ecoinometrics) April 22, 2025

When the NASDAQ’s 200-day moving average trended downward, Bitcoin faced significant macroeconomic headwinds. Currently, Bitcoin is back at its 200-day moving average, but this time could be different. Ecoinometrics emphasized that the sustainability of this rally may depend on continued ETF inflows, as the rally could lose momentum without sustained investment.

Meanwhile, data from CoinShares revealed that sentiment in digital asset investment products is recovering. The majority of the inflows seen last week were directed toward Bitcoin, although mid-week retail data prompted $146 million in outflows.