BlackRock: Bitcoin market sentiment is shifting, with a gradual decoupling trend from U.S. stocks emerging.

BlackRock’s Head of Digital Assets, Robert Mitchnick, said Bitcoin market sentiment has seen a “clear yet subtle” shift over the past month or so. Earlier this year, Bitcoin gradually decoupled from U.S. equities; prior to that, BTC had underperformed amid a rally in AI stocks, a decoupling that was once unfavorable for Bitcoin. Mitchnick noted that when AI stocks saw a sharp pullback in July, Bitcoin outperformed U.S. equities significantly. He views this decoupling as healthy, as many investors see Bitcoin as a diversification tool in portfolios and a potential hedge against tail risks facing other assets. He added that Bitcoin ETF investors as a whole remain dominated by fundamental-driven, long-term capital. In terms of fund flows, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows for five consecutive trading days last week, totaling around $853.5 million, marking their best weekly performance since mid-April. Of this total, BlackRock’s IBIT saw net inflows of $693.7 million, accounting for over 80% of all spot Bitcoin ETF net inflows; Fidelity’s related ETFs recorded net inflows of $116.4 million, making up around 13% of the total. Mitchnick said Bitcoin has historically been highly volatile, having gone through five major boom-and-bust cycles so far, with prices at the end of each cycle significantly higher than the previous one, though the process is marked by extreme volatility.