Bitcoin’s 2021 ROI outperforms Wall Street’s best sectors

Goldman Sachs said that Bitcoin’s 2021 returns had eclipsed that of the stock market’s best performing sector

Investment bank Goldman Sachs revealed that it had started tracking Bitcoin’s performance at the beginning of the year, and so far, the leading cryptocurrency has outperformed the stock market. According to Goldman Sachs, Bitcoin’s year-to-date return is double that of Wall Street’s best performing sector.

In its latest “US Weekly Kickstart” report, Goldman Sachs revealed that it began tracking Bitcoin‘s performance towards the end of January. Since then, Bitcoin has outperformed stocks, bonds, commodities, oil and currencies.

As of 4 March, the leading cryptocurrency’s year-to-date returns are around 70%. The ROI is double that of the energy sector (35%), which occupied the second position. Bitcoin (BTC) began the year close to the $30,000 mark and quickly rose to reach an all-time high of $58,300 in February. BTC has experienced a tumultuous two weeks, dropping below the $44,000 mark last week, but it is rebounding and currently trading above $53,000 at press time.

Bitcoin’s excellent performance against stocks is even better considering the recent bout of selling in US stocks, leading the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s year-to-date return to stand around 0%.

The energy and financial sectors are enjoying excellent year-to-date returns thanks to the recovery in oil prices and real yields so far this year. However, despite the rejuvenated performance of these sectors, they still lag behind Bitcoin.

Bitcoin’s performance led to a general rally in the crypto market, with several other coins reaching all-time highs in recent months. The cryptocurrency’s market cap surpassed the $1 trillion mark earlier this year as BTC, ETH and others rallied.

Amongst the asset classes tracked by Goldman Sachs, Gold was the worst performer since the start of the year. Several experts have attributed Gold’s poor performance in recent months to Bitcoin. The leading cryptocurrency is said to be growing at the expense of Gold, as many investors now consider Bitcoin to be a hedge against inflation.

An increasing number of investors are gaining exposure to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Last week, Goldman Sachs revealed it is relaunching its cryptocurrency trading desk after a three-year hiatus and intends to support Bitcoin futures trading again. A recent survey had revealed that 40% of Goldman Sachs clients have exposure to cryptocurrencies. More than half of the clients (54%) believe the cryptocurrency will top $100,000 by the end of the year.