VanEck Report Says Bitcoin Less Volatile Than Many Stocks

Bitcoin might be less volatile than some stocks, a study by VanEck shows.

What Happened: Investment management firm VanEck published a research paper on Friday comparing Bitcoin volatility to stock volatility.

Volatility of the cryptocurrency has been linked to regulations, "sensitivity to small total market size," and "limited penetration in mainstream stock and capital markets," wrote the author of the paper, Gabor Gurbacs, VanEck's director of digital assets strategy.

But, according to the paper, 145 stocks in the S&P 500 have had more price fluctuations year-to-date than the cryptocurrency has had this year. It also said Bitcoin demonstrated less 90-day volatility than 112 stocks on the S&P 500.

Why It Matters: Crypto assets are often viewed as the most volatile assets since the subprime derivatives that brought about the Great Recession.

The volatility is believed to be one of the main reasons institutional investors have hesitated to get involved.

VanEck, a New York-based fund that manages about $50 billion in assets, launched an exclusive Bitcoin ETF product for its clients in 2019 and also has filed with the SEC for a Bitcoin ETF. It already offers a line of ETFs such as the Vectors Gold Miners Etf GDX.

Price Action: Bitcoin has been trading in the $18,400 range today. VanEck shares closed at $35.90, with a 1.07% gain, on Friday.