The S&P 500 Index briefly experienced Bitcoin-level volatility in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, underscoring the panic and fear gripping traditional markets amid the ongoing trade war.
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas alerted his followers on X that the S&P 500’s volatility, as measured by the “SPY US Equity Hist Vol” chart, reached 74 in early April, exceeding Bitcoin’s (BTC) 71 level.
Source: Eric Balchunas
The increase marks a significant deviation from the S&P 500’s long-term volatility average, which is below 20.
For Bitcoin though, extreme volatility has been a feature since the asset’s inception.
“Bitcoin’s volatility remains elevated at 3.9 and 4.6 times that of gold and global equities, respectively,” according to BlackRock.
While Bitcoin’s average volatility has declined over time, it tends to experience much higher price swings than more established assets. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.ishares.com/us/insights/bitcoin-volatility-trends" rel="null"