Citigroup Admits What Crypto Fans Knew All Along: Bitcoin’s Here to Stay

Wall Street’s latest reluctant confession—Bitcoin isn’t just surviving, it’s thriving as a legitimate asset class. After weathering every regulatory storm and ’tulip mania’ comparison, the OG crypto just got its biggest institutional nod yet.

Why it matters: When banks start drafting terms of surrender, you know the game changed. Citigroup’s report highlights Bitcoin’s decade-long resilience—volatility cuts both ways, but the network never blinks.

The cynical take: Of course they endorse it now—after missing the sub-$1K entry and watching plebs get rich. Next up: pension funds ’discovering’ ETH while retail gets front-run... again.

Bitcoin Performs Better Than Major Stock Indexes Amid Uncertainty

Bitcoin has outperformed both the S&P and EuroStoxx indexes on a volatility-adjusted basis, as reported by Citigroup analysts. Matthew Sigel, head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck, emphasized the report’s conclusions regarding Bitcoin’s consistent performance throughout major market events.

The digital currency has outperformed price expectations derived from macroeconomic variables by more than 10% since the beginning of March, indicating what could be a risk premium independent of normal market forces.

“Bitcoin’s performance during certain financial-stress periods – ie, SVB turmoil, Sept 23 US bond term-premium rise, and recent market volatility – warrants attention as a potential indicator of its maturing adoption and purpose as an asset class.” – Citi pic.twitter.com/8ixp44fg3T

— matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) April 25, 2025

Crisis Response Exposes Shift Pattern For Cryptocurrency

As Silicon Valley Bank failed in March of 2023, Bitcoin prices remained above $21,000 and closed the month rising above $28,000 during the time. All of this was while traditional investments plummeted.

Later, in September of 2023, when US bond term premiums were increasing, Bitcoin opened at NEAR $25,000 and closed just above $26,000. These instances demonstrate how Bitcoin can remain stable when financial markets become turbulent.

Most recently, US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements have triggered market volatility that temporarily took Bitcoin below $75,000. The digital currency rebounded swiftly, though, rising again above $90,000 and beating out old-school stocks. Bitcoin is still the best-performing asset since the November US election despite recent market volatility.

As per the Citigroup report, funds entering Bitcoin ETFs have remained steady, while investors are pulling out of Ethereum ETFs. CryptoQuant explained that institutional players, not retail buyers, appear to be behind Bitcoin’s increasing prices. The analysts cited ETF flows and interest in futures markets as key drivers of recent price action.

Both on-chain and off-chain indicators paint a mixed picture of Bitcoin’s situation. Citigroup states that the overall stablecoin value continues to rise solidly, even during turbulent times. Ethereum’s main chain usage has increased; however, activity is waning on Layer 2 leverage. The same goes for activity on the Bitcoin network: intermittent burst activity.

Some analysts believe these factors indicate that Bitcoin is forming its individual market behavior, partially influenced by a recovering gold market and a weakening US dollar. Investor dollars into the Bitcoin ETF have remained steady throughout downturns, leading some to speculate that institutional investors are developing a different view of the cryptocurrency than they have held historically.

Featured image by Håkan Dahlström via CC BY 2.0, chart from TradingView