A new report from Charles Schwab suggests that bitcoin is shedding one of its defining traits: extreme volatility. It can be good or bad news.
According to the firm’s analysis, bitcoin’s price swings have fallen sharply in recent years, with the asset now showing less volatility than some of the biggest US tech stocks. The report found that BTC’s historical volatility (HV) fell to 42% in 2025 – roughly half of what it recorded in 2021 – marking a significant shift as the cryptocurrency matures into a widely traded financial asset.
Schwab’s data shows that bTC is now behaving similarly to larger stocks and in some cases seems more stable. Shares in Tesla had a HV reading of 63% in 2025, while Nvidia recorded 50%, both of which exceeded BTC’s 42%. Measures of daily price movement, such as the average true range as a percentage of price, also show a comparable trend.
Despite the drop in volatility, bitcoin remains prone to sharp moves. The report notes that bitcoin fell as much as 32% in 2025, with losses extending into early 2026. Over a longer three-year window, BTC recorded a peak-to-trough drop of 50%, highlighting that large swings – while less frequent – ​​have not disappeared.
Yet these losses were not unique. Tesla saw a deeper decline of 54% during the same period, while Nvidia fell 37% at its worst. The data highlights a broader trend: high-growth tech stocks can exhibit volatility levels on par with or exceeding bitcoin.
Bitcoin’s long-term volatility remains high
Zooming out further, bitcoin’s long-term volatility profile remains elevated relative to traditional assets. During the market downturn of 2022, the cryptocurrency fell 77% from its peak, compared to declines of 74% for Tesla and 66% for Nvidia.
However, Schwab noted that Tesla’s overall volatility metrics over the five-year period still exceeded BTC.
The report also compares BTC to commodities, showing that silver futures often exhibited more erratic day-to-day price movements despite smaller aggregate moves. Gold, on the other hand, maintained relatively stable gains with lower volatility.
Within crypto markets, bitcoin’s relative stability has become more pronounced. Ethereum continues to trade with higher volatility and deeper moves, with the gap between the two assets widening since 2021.
Schwab concluded that BTC’s evolution reflects its growing integration into mainstream finance.
A clear example of Wall Street’s deepening embrace of bitcoin is Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF, MSBT, moving closer to launch after receiving an official listing on the NYSE, a move analysts say often signals an imminent debut.
If approved, the fund would become the first spot BTC ETF issued by a major US bank, setting it apart from existing products offered by asset managers such as BlackRock and Fidelity.
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