Bitcoin is outpacing the US dollar’s top benchmark this year by a wide margin. The DXY index, which tracks the greenback against a group of other major currencies, has dropped 12% since mid-January.
That drop has erased nearly five years’ worth of gains, while Bitcoin has climbed almost the same percentage over the exact same stretch.
The DXY’s decline comes with plenty of caveats. The index leans hard on Europe, with over half of its weight tied to the euro. Another 20% or so is unevenly distributed between the British pound, Swedish krona, and Swiss franc.
Only one currency from Asia, the Japanese yen, makes it into the basket, holding around 14% of the index. The Chinese renminbi doesn’t appear at all. Even so, the US dollar has still slipped roughly 2.5% against the yuan since January.
Bitcoin’s performance, when laid over DXY’s slide, shows clear divergence. The orange line, representing BTC/USD, has moved up nearly 12% in six months.
The DXY, in blue, has dropped by nearly that exact percentage. A purple line in the chart showed BTC/USD after adjusting for DXY’s volatility starting from last year, further revealing how disconnected Bitcoin has become from dollar weakness.
Looking at performance across different timeframes, BTC/USD has beaten crude oil, gold, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq 100 across one-year, three-year, and five-year spans. Nvidia is the only major asset to outperform Bitcoin over three and five years, but it’s not displayed in the latest comparative chart.
Bitcoin touches new highs across different metrics
Rather than compare Bitcoin in dollar terms alone, analysts are now watching its price relative to major financial indices and commodities. The BTC/S&P 500, BTC/Nasdaq 100, and BTC/crude oil ratios all peaked in late May, with current levels still hovering just under those highs. In raw dollar value, Bitcoin remains just 2% below its all-time high.
The gold/Bitcoin ratio hasn’t followed suit. It’s now 20% below its record from just before Christmas 2024, making it the only major cross to fall that far off its peak.
Still, one milestone was hit early this morning on Coinbase, when Bitcoin reached $110,500. That price wasn’t just a dollar benchmark — it represented a new all-time high when adjusted for the DXY, coming in at 1139.58. That number is 2% above the previous DXY-adjusted high set in late May. While DXY’s structure has been questioned, the new record remains factual.
The current price levels have major implications for short sellers. If BTC crosses $115,000, more than $6 billion worth of short positions stand to be liquidated. And right now, with prices just shy of record highs, 99% of Bitcoin holders are sitting in profit, based on public blockchain data tracked since January.
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