Investing.com -- Bitcoin has held up better than equities during the recent U.S. tariff-driven market turmoil, falling just 10% year-to-date versus a 16% drop in the Nasdaq.
While expecting short-term volatility, Bernstein remains constructive on the outlook for digital assets, pointing to a set of structural catalysts supporting Bitcoin’s resilience and future upside.
The firm argues that Bitcoin, often described as digital gold, stands to benefit from the same macro tailwinds lifting traditional gold, which is up 25% year-to-date.
“The macro supports gold and thus digital gold,” said Bernstein’s senior digital asset analyst Gautam Chhugani in a note, emphasizing Bitcoin’s higher beta and “headroom vs Gold.”
Chuggani also highlighted that U.S. regulatory leadership under the Trump administration remains supportive of crypto adoption, especially amid growing political alignment with the digital assets industry.
In the note, Bernstein listed five key catalysts that it believes underpin the current and future momentum in crypto.
1 ) ‘ Continued Bitcoin buying and more resilient capital base :’ Institutional demand has remained strong even during recent corrections.
Bitcoin ETFs only saw ~$4 billion in outflows in February and March, and selling appears to have eased in April. “Close to ~80 corporates world over now have adopted Bitcoin as a treasury asset,” Chuggani notes, with firms like MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR ) continuing to buy.
2 ) ‘ Fresh Bitcoin purchases in the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) :’ Bernstein expects the U.S. government to potentially expand its Bitcoin holdings through market purchases, with proposals under consideration to fund this via gold certificate revaluation or Bitcoin-backed bond issuance.
3 ) ‘ Mainstream bank adoption :’ Crypto is reentering mainstream finance, driven by positive regulatory moves and institutional interest, Chuggani says. Banks are exploring stablecoins for cross-border settlements and expanding into crypto custody, wealth management, and trading.
4 ) ‘ Regulatory momentum around stablecoins :’ A key regulatory catalyst expected this year is the passage of a stablecoin bill.
“We expect widespread adoption of stablecoin technology within banks/fintechs for payments use-cases beyond crypto capital markets,” especially in remittances and B2B payments, according to Chuggani.
5 ) ‘ Push from asset managers and brokers :” Lastly, the analyst highlights that global financial institutions are investing in crypto infrastructure, viewing blockchain as the foundation for digitizing capital markets.
“Broker-dealers and asset managers are making a strong push towards crypto,” Chuggani writes, with platforms like Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD ) and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN ) leading innovation in tokenized securities and stablecoin settlement.