Bitcoin vs Nasdaq: how closely they move

Does Bitcoin follow the Nasdaq?

Sometimes. In risk-on and risk-off phases, Bitcoin has often moved in the same direction as tech stocks, because the same investors hold both. In other months the link breaks, for example on crypto-specific news or ETF flows.

The number that matters is the current one: +0.71 over the last 30 days of BRVX closes. The correlation tool shows it next to gold, oil and other markets.

Bitcoin vs Nasdaq-100: the numbers

Key differences between Bitcoin and the Nasdaq-100

• Hours: Bitcoin never closes; the Nasdaq-100 cash index trades weekdays only, though BRVX quotes for XYZ100 also move on weekends.
• Volatility: Bitcoin usually swings 2.6× as much as the index or more.
• Leverage on BRVX: Bitcoin up to 150x, Nasdaq-100 up to 70x.
• Funding: hourly on Bitcoin (0.0205% / 0.0171% per 1h), every 3 hours on the index (0.0068% per 3h).

Bitcoin: pros and cons

• Pros: Trades every day, so weekend news is priced live.
• Pros: next to Nasdaq-100, Bitcoin takes up to 150x (Nasdaq-100 70x) at 0.1% per side (Nasdaq-100 0.05%)
• Cons: Larger swings mean liquidation comes faster at the same leverage.
• Cons: Crypto-only shocks hit it and not the index.

Nasdaq-100: pros and cons

• Pros: Broad basket of large companies, calmer than single stocks.
• Pros: Driven by earnings and rates, which are scheduled.
• Cons: Tech concentration.
• Cons: Lower leverage cap on BRVX.

Using the two together

When the correlation is high, a long in one and a short in the other mostly cancels out. When it is low, the two are separate bets.

Check the correlation before treating one as a hedge for the other.

What Bitcoin and the Nasdaq-100 actually are

Bitcoin is a digital currency that runs on a public network, not inside a company. It launched in 2009. Computers called miners group transactions into blocks and add them to a shared record, the blockchain. The protocol caps supply at 21 million coins, and the reward for new blocks halves about every four years.

The Nasdaq-100 is a stock index. It follows 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange, so banks are left out. It started in 1985. Bigger companies carry more weight, so a few large tech names can move the whole index.

So the comparison is uneven. One side is a single asset with no earnings and no cash flow. The other is a basket of businesses that sell products, make profits and report them every quarter.

What moves the Bitcoin price vs the Nasdaq-100

Some drivers are shared. Interest rates and the US dollar matter to both, because they change how much risk investors want to take. When money is cheap, both tend to attract buyers. When rates rise, both can fall.

Other drivers belong to one side only. That is why the link between them is never fixed.

• Both: central bank rate decisions, inflation data, the strength of the US dollar and the general mood toward risk.
• Mostly Bitcoin: crypto regulation, security incidents at crypto firms, large holders moving coins and news about the network itself.
• Mostly Nasdaq-100: quarterly earnings from the largest members, company guidance, spending on AI and cloud, and changes to the index list.
• Timing: many Nasdaq-100 drivers arrive on a schedule, such as earnings dates. Many Bitcoin shocks arrive without warning, at any hour.

Bitcoin vs Nasdaq: a worked example with the same position size

This example uses round numbers, not live data. A trader puts 1,000 USDT of margin into a 10x long on each market. Margin is the money set aside to back a position. At 10x, each position is worth 10,000 USDT.

Say a risk-off day pushes the Nasdaq-100 down 2% and Bitcoin down 5%. The index position loses 200 USDT, or 20% of its margin. The Bitcoin position loses 500 USDT, or half of its margin. The same news caused both moves, but the damage is very different.

Equal leverage does not mean equal risk. Over 30 days, volatility was 39.2% for Bitcoin and 15.0% for Nasdaq-100, so Bitcoin moved about 2.6× as much as Nasdaq-100. To take similar risk on both, a trader would use a smaller size or lower leverage on the more volatile side.

Bitcoin vs Nasdaq-100 trading hours and the cost of holding

Bitcoin trades every minute of every day. The Nasdaq-100 is built from shares that trade on a US exchange with set hours, closed at night and at weekends. On BRVX, the XYZ100 price is quoted around the clock, including weekends, while the underlying exchange keeps its own hours.

Holding a perpetual contract costs funding. Funding is a small charge on an open position, taken at fixed intervals. On BRVX, both the long side and the short side pay it. On Bitcoin it is charged every hour: 0.0205% / 0.0171% per 1h. On XYZ100 it is charged every 3 hours: 0.0068% per 3h.

The period length matters when you compare. Bitcoin has 24 funding periods a day and the index has 8. Multiply the rate by the periods to get the daily cost, then by the days you plan to hold. On a trade that lasts weeks, funding can become a large part of the total cost.

Common mistakes when trading Bitcoin against the Nasdaq

Most problems with this pair come from treating a changing relationship as a fixed rule.

• Using one as a hedge for the other when the correlation is weak. Check +0.71 first, and remember it covers only the last 30 days.
• Putting the same leverage on both, even though Bitcoin swings more.
• Forgetting that Bitcoin reacts to weekend news straight away, while most Nasdaq-100 news arrives on weekdays.
• Holding through earnings from the largest index members without checking the dates.
• Assuming the fixed supply means the Bitcoin price must rise. The rule limits new coins; it says nothing about demand.
• Ignoring funding on a long hold, since both sides pay it on each market.

How to trade Bitcoin and the Nasdaq-100 on BRVX

On BRVX, Bitcoin trades as BTC/USDT, and the Nasdaq-100 as XYZ100/USDT, which tracks the Nasdaq-100 index. Both are synthetic perpetual contracts quoted in USDT. A perpetual contract has no expiry date. You trade the price only: you do not own any coin or share, and there are no dividends or voting rights.

You can go long or short. Leverage starts from 5x and goes up to 150x on Bitcoin and 70x on the index. The fee is 0.1% to open and again to close on Bitcoin, and 0.05% per side on the index, as a share of position size. Margin can be posted in USDT, USDC, BTC, ETH, SOL or BNB, and you can set a take-profit and a stop-loss.

Leveraged trading can lose the whole margin, and bigger price swings get there faster. BRVX is not available to US persons.

Methodology: Bitcoin vs Nasdaq-100 on BRVX

The figures above use BTC/USDT and XYZ100/USDT daily closes on BRVX over 30 days (through 2026-10-14), annualized; terms are the live tariff's.