Bitcoin moved higher Tuesday, at one point breaching $94,000 for the first time, amid rising geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by more than 1% at $92,616.00, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier, it rose as high as $94,068.75. Shares of MicroStrategy, which trade as a bitcoin proxy, rose 11.9%.

The move follows overnight reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. that the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons had come down in response to President Joe Biden allowing Ukraine to use U.S. missiles to strike military targets inside Russia. Initially, bitcoin moved higher while stocks sold off. In afternoon trading, however, bitcoin advanced further as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite erased losses.

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Bitcoin rose slightly amid rising Ukraine-Russia tensions

Bitcoin is up 31% for the month. It has benefited from traders’ recent enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies following the election, as President-elect Donald Trump is expected to install more crypto-friendly regulators that could help the industry reach greater success. Like gold, bitcoin is also seen by many investors as a “non-confiscatable,” long-term hedge against geopolitical uncertainty.

“The most significant long-term correlations for bitcoin are a negative correlation with the U.S. dollar and a positive correlation with money supply growth,” Matt Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, said Oct. 28 on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“Bitcoin is a chameleon,” Sigel added. “Its correlations change over time; it’s hard to predict what it’s going to be correlated with over the short term.”

Best returns by asset class since 2012

Bitcoin (BTC)

U.S. Treasurys (UST)

U.S. Corporate (Corp)

S&P 500 (SPX)

Russell 2000 (R2K)

Commodities (Comm)

MSCI EAFE

MSCI EM

Gold

Top

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

Bottom

2023

BTC

157%

SPX

26.3%

MSCI EAFE

18.9%

R2K

16.9%

Gold

14.6%

MSCI EM

10.3%

Corp

8.5%

UST

4.1%

Comm

-4.3%

2022

Comms

26%

Gold

0.4%

UST

-12.5%

MSCI EAFE

-14%

Corp

-15.8%

SPX

-18.1%

MSCI EM

-19.7%

R2K

-20.4%

BTC

-64.3%

2021

BTC

59.8%

Comms

40.4%

SPX

28.7%

R2K

14.8%

MSCI EAFE

11.8%

Corp

-1%

MSCI EM

-2.2%

UST

-2.3%

Gold

-4.3%

2020

BTC

305.1%

Gold

24.6%

R2K

20%

MSCI EM

18.7%

SPX

18.4%

Corp

9.9%

MSCI EAFE

8.3%

UST

8%

Comm

-23.7%

2019

BTC

94.8%

SPX

31.5%

R2K

25.5%

MSCI EAFE

22.7%

MSCI EM

18.9%

Gold

18.4%

Comm

17.6%

Corp

14.5%

UST

6.9%

2018

UST

0.9%

Gold

-0.9%

Corp

-2.5%

SPX

-4.4%

R2K

-11%

MSCI EAFE

-13.4%

Comm

-13.8%

MSCI EM

-14.2%

BTC

-73.8%

2017

BTC

1375.1%

MSCI EM

37.8%

MSCI EAFE

25.6%

SPX

21.8%

R2K

14.6%

Gold

12.7%

Corp

6.4%

Comm

5.8%

UST

2.3%

2016

BTC

120.3%

R2K

21.3%

SPX

12%

MSCI EM

11.6%

Comm

11.4%

Gold

8.1%

Corp

6.1%

MSCI EAFE

1.5%

UST

1%

2015

BTC

36.2%

SPX

1.4%

UST

0.8%

MSCI EAFE

-0.4%

Corp

-0.7%

R2K

-4.4%

Gold

-12.1%

MSCI EM

-14.6%

Comm

-32.9%

2014

SP500

13.7%

Corp

7.5%

UST

5.1%

R2K

4.9%

Gold

0.1%

MSCI EM

-1.8%

MSCI EAFE

-4.5%

Comm

-33.1%

BTC

-57.5%

2013

BTC

5428.4%

R2K

38.8%

SPX

32.4%

MSCI EAFE

23.3%

Comm

-1.2%

Corp

-1.5%

MSCI EM

-2.3%

UST

-2.7%

Gold

-27.3%

2012

BTC

217.9%

MSCI EM

18.6%

MSCI EAFE

17.9%

R2K

16.4%

SPX

16%

Corp

9.8%

Gold

8.3%

UST

2%

Comm

0.1%

Graphic: Gabriel Cortes / CNBC

Source: WisdomTree

Bitcoin has behaved as a safe haven before. It outperformed during the crisis in the regional banking system in early 2023, for example. But because bitcoin is also a risky asset without a long history, with extreme volatility that can benefit short-term traders, some have a hard time arguing that bitcoin is necessarily attractive forever. Citigroup, for example, in a note Monday reiterated the bank’s view that bitcoin doesn’t exhibit store-of-value properties.

“Gold peaked by October-end, nearly a week prior to Election Day,” Citi’s Alex Saunders wrote. “And with risk-on (and idiosyncratic) sentiment supporting crypto, and FX/rates headwinds building for gold, the two are unlikely to be strongly correlated in the near-term.”