After the meekest of rallies yesterday following some soft inflation numbers, U.S. stocks Thursday are once again headed sharply lower and apparently pulling bitcoin (BTC) along for the ride.

Just ahead of the noon hour on the east coast, the Nasdaq is lower by 1.7% and the S&P 500 by 1.2% After pushing to nearly $85,000 on Wednesday, bitcoin has retreated all the way back to $81,000, off 1% over the past 24 hours.

Gold, though, is doing what it's been doing for a thousand years — providing a haven during times of distress. The yellow metal is ahead by 1.5% to a new record high and within $10 of pushing through $3,000 per ounce for the first time ever.

Since the Nasdaq peaked for the year three weeks ago, that gauge has dropped almost 15%. Gold over that time frame has gained about 1%, while bitcoin is lower by nearly 20%.

The current outperformance might remind investors of the late summer/early fall of 2024, when crypto markets along with stocks treaded water in a sideways range while gold carved out new highs. While BTC consolidated between $50,000 and $70,000 between March and October, gold climbed almost 40% to $2,800. Bitcoin eventually rallied to above $100,000, buoyed by Trump's election victory, while the gold gains stalled as money flowed from havens into risk assets. Highlighting where the capital is flowing, gold exchange-traded funds enjoyed their largest 30-day average inflows since early 2022, adding 3 million ounces worth of yellow metal to the funds, according to Bold.report data.

In contrast, U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs saw $5 billion in outflows in since February, experiencing the worth negative streak in their one-year history, per SoSoValue data.

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