Bitcoin Lags S&P 500 Rally as AI-Driven Gains Leave Crypto Behind

The Bitcoin price has been lagging behind the S&P 500's rally in August, gaining only 2% while the index has risen by 3.12%. According to Adam Haeems, head of asset management at Tesseract Group, this is partly because the equity rally is driven by areas where Bitcoin has little direct exposure, particularly AI and semiconductor stocks.

Haeems noted that even positive macro developments are reaching Bitcoin more slowly than equities, as evidenced by the renewed drop in oil prices and hopes for normalized shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The effect on equities is immediate, while it runs through inflation expectations and Federal Reserve policy for Bitcoin.

Crypto also faces its own headwinds, including the Coldcard hardware wallet exploit that has drained an estimated $120 million from vulnerable wallets. This, combined with Strategy's continued selling of Bitcoin in three consecutive months, has capped upside.