Bitcoin vs S&P 500: Why BTC’s 16% fall has traders asking questions

Bitcoin [BTC] was changing hands around $72,648.22 at press time, after a drop of 1.46% in the past 24 hours and a drop of over 16% in the year so far.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500’s stock price was trading at about $7,580.06, following a slight increase and a year-to-date increase of more than 10%. This disparity suggests that Bitcoin is functioning as a risk-off asset during periods of strong performance for traditional U.S. stocks. 

Remarking on the same, an X user noted, 

Bitcoin vs. S&P 500

However, according to the CryptoQuant data on the correlation between Bitcoin and the S&P 500, there was a moderately positive movement between the two between January and May 2026.

In May, the short-term 30-day correlation saw enormous volatility, falling to almost 10% before rising to roughly 48% by the end of the month. However, the longer-term 90-day and 180-day correlations stayed comparatively steady at 45% to 60%.

While Bitcoin found it difficult to keep up and eventually retraced some of its gains, the S&P 500 surged to new highs during this brief decline.

Even with this brief divergence, the 30-day correlation’s recovery and the longer-term metrics’ stability imply that Bitcoin is still acting like a risky asset. 

However, the crypto community stood in Bitcoin’s defense, as an X user noted, 

Bitcoin’s SOPR chart sparks bearish sentiments

At the same time, the Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) was below the neutral level of 1 at 0.99.

This recent drop back below one indicates that profit-taking has slowed and that some holders might be giving up. Simply put, the selling pressure around Bitcoin is still high in the current market conditions.

The selling pressure spirals

Additionally, between January and June 2026, Bitcoin’s Net Realized Profit and Loss (NRPL) stayed largely below zero, suggesting that investors were experiencing more losses than gains.

Although NRPL saw some improvement in April and early May as Bitcoin bounced back, it was unable to sustain its upward trend. By the 1st of June, NRPL was approximately -$27.9 million, and Bitcoin was trading close to $72,600.

This indicates that market sentiment is still weak and that holders are still experiencing modest overall losses.

However, AMBCrypto’s earlier report that Bitcoin is now closing in on gold and that its price fluctuations have decreased suggests otherwise.

Final Summary

• The price action of Bitcoin and the S&P 500 shows that the digital assets market is currently weak against the traditional equities market.
• Bitcoin’s SOPR and NPRL data confirm the bearish pressure surrounding the leading cryptocurrency.