How Does Cryptocurrency Compare to Major Asset Classes?

Total cryptocurrency market cap fares poorly with a -55% price return, vs. major asset classes, YTD

Since the start of the year, the total cryptocurrency market cap has dropped 55.7% year-to-date (YTD), from $2.3 trillion to $1 trillion. Its largest decline happened between April to June 2022, falling over 50 percentage points. The cryptocurrency market has been moving sideways ever since, in tandem with the S&P 500 (SPX) and even Gold (XAU).

Other major asset classes also see a negative price return – the S&P 500 has dropped 19.3%, while Gold, which is typically perceived as a ‘safe bet’, has dipped 8.8%.

The US Dollar Index (DXY) and Crude Oil stay afloat

With multiple interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve to combat inflation, the US Dollar Index (DXY) has steadily climbed 15.7% from the start of the year

Crude Oil prices peaked in June 2022 due to a strong demand met with short supply, when sanctions were imposed on Russian oil, after its Ukraine invasion. This was later met with a slump in 2H 2022, with oil prices slipping below $100 a barrel for the first time since early May 2022. Central banks’ interest rate hikes to fight inflation fears, coupled with the U.S. government data revealing lower gasoline demand despite the peak summer driving season, is likely to have caused this correction.

In October 2022, Crude Oil prices inch upwards with the expectation of OPEC+ planning a production cut. This has resulted in the continual rise in Crude Oil prices since its dip at the end of September 2022, reflecting a 13.7% gain YTD.

If you use these insights, we would appreciate a link back to this article on CoinGecko. A link credit allows us to keep supplying you with future data-led content that you may find useful.

Curious to know out more about the cryptocurrency landscape? Read our Q3 2022 Cryptocurrency Report.

CoinGecko's Content Editorial Guidelines

CoinGecko’s content aims to demystify the crypto industry. While certain posts you see may be sponsored, we strive to uphold the highest standards of editorial quality and integrity, and do not publish any content that has not been vetted by our editors.

Learn more

Julia Ng

Julia leads Growth at CoinGecko and is passionate about onboarding more women onto Web3. That said, she is generally poor at timing the market, so she DCAs for safety. Follow the author on Twitter @ngxinyajulia