Bitcoin and the stock market are moving in lockstep now, but only because the same group of gamblers is betting on both.
SSRN · March 13, 2026 · 6277718
Why it matters
Researchers found that assets with zero business overlap—like Bitcoin and DraftKings—correlate because the same cohort of retail traders is active across crypto and commission-free brokerages. This 'Attention Factor' means market movements are driven more by who is doing the trading than what is being traded.
From the abstract
Cryptocurrency and equity markets have become linked-and the linkage is intensifying. Bitcoin now shares roughly a quarter of its return variation with world equities during periods of elevated speculative participation, while gold shares near zero. An asset with no shared business fundamentals-cash flows, earnings, or production linkages has developed meaningful co-movement with equity markets. For allocators, understanding this linkage is not a crypto question-it is a portfolio risk question.