Bitcoin Proves Its Resilience in Times of Crisis

Bitcoin has emerged as a resilient asset class in times of crisis, outperforming traditional assets like gold and the S&P 500 in every major conflict since 2020.

A comparison of data from various sources shows that Bitcoin's bounce rate is consistently higher than its competitors during periods of war. For instance, during the US-Iran escalation in January 2020, Bitcoin surged by 20% compared to gold's 6% increase and the S&P 500's decline of 7%. Similarly, during the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, Bitcoin rose by 21%, while gold and the S&P 500 increased by 2% and 3%, respectively.

However, not everyone shares a similar view on Bitcoin being considered the ultimate safe haven. A research paper released by SRNN in 2022 contradicted this notion, stating that crypto assets primarily show weak safe-haven properties for the commodity market. However, a more recent research paper by Grayscale in 2026 highlighted Bitcoin's resilience during times of war and cited examples of spot crypto ETPs experiencing net inflows and perpetual futures open interest surging despite sell-off risks.