Bitcoin has become considerably less volatile than it was in earlier years, but its price still moves far more sharply than gold, the S&P 500 and the euro-dollar exchange rate. A comparison published by CoinDesk found that bitcoin’s 90-day realized volatility was about 38% as of Thursday, putting it close to Nvidia’s level but well above most major traditional assets.
Bitcoin’s volatility remains elevated
The comparison uses realized volatility, a common measure of how widely an asset’s price has moved over a defined period. It is calculated from the standard deviation of daily returns and is generally annualized, allowing different assets to be compared on a similar basis. A higher percentage indicates larger price swings and typically signals greater risk for investors holding the asset.
Bitcoin’s 90-day realized volatility stood at approximately 38%. That was close to Nvidia’s reading of about 37%, meaning the cryptocurrency and the major artificial-intelligence chipmaker had experienced broadly similar levels of price turbulence over the period.
Bitcoin was considerably less stable than the other assets in the comparison. Gold’s 90-day realized volatility was about 23.5%, while the S&P 500 stood at roughly 11%. On that measure, bitcoin was a little more than three times as volatile as the broad U.S. stock index.
The largest difference appeared against EUR/USD, the exchange rate comparing the euro with the U.S. dollar. The currency pair recorded 90-day realized volatility of about 4.6%, making bitcoin roughly eight times more volatile. EUR/USD remained in the single digits even amid uncertainty surrounding French government debt and a recent decline in the euro. CoinDesk noted that most fiat-currency pairs have realized volatility below 10%.
A calmer bitcoin, but not yet a currency-like asset
The figures also show that bitcoin’s volatility has fallen substantially over time. Since January 2020, its 90-day volatility has averaged about 58%, well above the approximately 38% reading in the latest comparison. The measure reached 134% in June 2020, its highest level in the period described.
Bitcoin’s lowest reading was 27.5% in September 2025, when its price moved above $100,000. Although the latest level is higher than that low, it remains far below the cryptocurrency’s historical average since 2020.
This decline is relevant to the debate over bitcoin’s role in investment portfolios. An asset with very different price movements from stocks or bonds can potentially affect portfolio diversification, while an asset that moves sharply in the same direction as other risk-sensitive holdings can increase overall volatility. The data do not settle that question, but they show that bitcoin still behaves more like a volatile technology stock than a traditional currency.
The comparison also highlights the gap between bitcoin and established mediums of exchange. Bitcoin’s limited supply is often presented as one of its defining characteristics, but its price fluctuations remain much wider than those of major fiat-currency pairs. That leaves a significant difference between bitcoin’s current market behavior and the stability normally associated with national currencies.
Market picture from Moneyiar data
Moneyiar market data recorded at 07:59 on Oct. 24, 2026, showed Bitcoin at $80,605.61, down 1.04% over 24 hours and 1.23% over seven days.
Ore was priced at $151.01 at 07:58 on Oct. 24, 2026, according to Moneyiar data. It had risen 17.56% over 24 hours and 32% over seven days.
These prices and percentage changes are a separate current snapshot from the volatility comparison, which was based on 90-day realized-volatility calculations as of Thursday. Price performance over one day or one week measures recent direction, while realized volatility measures the scale of daily movements over a longer period.
What options markets are signaling
The source also compared two forward-looking volatility indicators: BVIV, Volmex’s 30-day bitcoin implied-volatility index, and the VIX, which reflects expected volatility for the S&P 500. Unlike realized volatility, implied volatility is derived from options pricing and represents market expectations for future price turbulence.
At the time of the report, the VIX had moved above its 200-day moving average, suggesting traders were pricing greater uncertainty and wider expected swings in U.S. stocks. BVIV, by contrast, remained below its own 200-day average, indicating comparatively subdued expectations for near-term volatility in the cryptocurrency market.
That contrast does not remove bitcoin’s longer-term volatility premium over traditional assets. It does, however, show that expectations for stock-market turbulence and cryptocurrency turbulence were not moving identically at that point. Whether bitcoin can maintain that relative calm while uncertainty rises in wider financial markets remains an open question.
