Despite a relatively respectable return for bitcoin (BTC) of about 60% in 2021, shares of not just tech companies, but also of some of America’s largest banks and retailers, have outperformed the original cryptocurrency for the year.
According to data compiled from MicroStrategy’s overview of returns of different assets versus BTC, a total of 212 companies out of the 500 that make up the broad S&P 500 index, did perform better than bitcoin on a 12-month basis as of January 6.
Among the companies were several of the largest tech companies in the world, including Apple, Microsoft, and Google-owner Alphabet, the data showed. In addition, traditional retailers such as Home Depot and Costco, and financial institutions including Bank of America and JPMorgan, also outperformed BTC.
Out of these companies, the strongest return versus BTC was posted by Alphabet, which gained 46% in bitcoin terms and close to 65% in US dollar terms.
Apple, meanwhile, delivered returns of about 39% in USD, and 23% when using BTC as the baseline, leading Bloomberg TV anchor Joe Weisenthal to call Apple’s performance “just astounding.”
“It's much bigger than Bitcoin, and delivering higher returns, with smaller drawdowns, and smaller swings overall,” he wrote.
Responding to him, however, Bitcoin proponent and Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation, Alex Gladstein, pointed out how different the two assets are, given that Bitcoin is an open network and Apple stocks can only be purchased through regulated brokerages with know-your-customers (KYC) checks in place.
“A shame that so few people globally can access Apple stock, though,” Gladstein wrote, adding:
“I’m very grateful we have a ~ trillion-dollar asset with similar performance over the last
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