Stocks Soar While Bitcoin Stagnates – Is This the New Normal?

Wall Street’s bull run leaves crypto in the dust as traditional markets rally. Bitcoin’s sideways action sparks debate: temporary lag or structural shift?

Tech investors pivot to equities as risk appetite returns—yet another ’death of crypto’ narrative Wall Street will get wrong. Meanwhile, hedge funds quietly accumulate BTC at these levels.

The real story? Macro winds favor both asset classes long-term. But sure, let the suits pretend they’ve cracked the code this time.

Source: River

This tug-of-war between weak hands and heavy hitters is keeping BTC locked in a tight range.

All eyes are on these heavyweights. Can they weather the macro storm stacking up against BTC?

Risk-on rally heats up, but Bitcoin lags behind

Historically, a weaker dollar unlocks risk-asset beta, lifting equities and crypto alike. At press time, the U.S. dollar index slid to its weakest level since early March, down 11% year-to-date.

Source: TradingView

The U.S. stock market is syncing up perfectly with this move. Just last week, the S&P500 climbed +5.3%, its second-best weekly gain since November 2023.

The Nasdaq 100 surged 6.8% this week, marking its second-best performance since November 2023, as the stock market continues its nearly uninterrupted upward momentum.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin started the week at $104.6K but remains stagnant around $104K, struggling to gain traction as investors shift their focus to equities.

Time for institutions to step up!

According to AMBCrypto, this divergence in risk flows signals a sharp retail rotation into traditional assets. 

With macro FUD easing, the 90-day tariff pause, and the Fed’s persistent hawkish grind, BTC’s near-term retail bid appears capped. This rotation is a key sentiment inflection – one trader can’t afford to ignore.

Now, it’s up to the whales and institutions to soak up the selling pressure. But whale counts remain sidelined, stuck at 1,448 since the early-April dump. 

Source: Glassnode

Meanwhile, spot ETFs are making noise. BlackRock’s IBIT ETF has hauled in a cool $800 million in BTC inflows in under five days.

The big players are stepping in, but with retail chasing capital over conviction, BTC’s next MOVE hinges on how deep these heavy hitters want to go.