It all began as a narrative from Bitcoin advocates. Now the largest asset manager in the world is saying Bitcoin has decoupled from tech stocks.

“If you zoom out, you tend to see the longer term fundamental thesis of Bitcoin really drives it to behave differently to traditional assets,” Jay Jacobs, BlackRock’s US head of equity ETFs, said on CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia.

“Crypto over the long run is decoupled from tech stocks.”

Jacobs words carry unprecedented weight in a conversation long dominated by the Bitcoin faithful.

BlackRock manages over $10 trillion in assets. For an institution of its size to see Bitcoin as an alternative to equities emphasises how much the asset’s profile has changed in the eyes of professional investors.

Until recently, it was mostly considered a proxy to tech stocks like Tesla. Now, it’s being compared to gold, investors’ safe-haven asset par excellence.

That’s thanks to Bitcoin’s price action.

Bitcoin quickly recouped its losses following ‘Liberation Day,’ while equities and the dollar plunged.

And it has outperformed a recent stock market resurgence. The top cryptocurrency is up 12% over the past seven days to $95,300.

BlackRock’s IBIT exchange-traded fund is also backing up safe-haven claims. On Wednesday, Bitcoin ETFs hauled in $919 million, led by BlackRock with 70% of inflows.

‘Decoupling’

Decoupling became the word on Wall Street this week as investors sought assets with an attractive risk-to-return profile amid Donald Trump’s bellicose approach to trade policy.

The trade war between the US and China has spurred fears of a recession among investors, who have been hastily selling equities.

What market watchers weren’t expecting is that investors would favour Bitcoin.

“People are looking for those assets that behave differently,” Jacobs said.

And he’s not alone.

Bitcoin has “decoupled obviously” from the Nasdaq which “was a trend for a while,” said CNBC anchor, Scott Wapner, during Monday’s “Fast Money Halftime Report.”

Uncertainty as a catalyst

Jacobs honed in on the current macroeconomic uncertainty as the main driver for Bitcoin’s success.

“Fundamentally, this should behave like an uncorrelated asset,” he said. “The more we see time play out in this uncertain environment, the more we will see this dispersion.”

How long will the uncertainty last? Nobody really knows.

Trump hasn’t let up on his erratic tariff policies, continually intensifying the standoff with China. Meanwhile, the Asian giant has said it hasn’t had any tariff talks with the US, although it may exempt some US goods due to rising costs, according to Bloomberg.

‘Megaforces’

Moreso, the uncertainty unleashed by Trump’s policies fits into a framework that BlackRock has been developing dubbed “megaforces.”

“We see geopolitical fragmentation as a ‘megaforce’ that is driving the world forward,” Jacobs said.

This fragmentation is showing up in policies like reshoring — which means bringing manufacturing back to a company’s original country — and escalating trade tensions. And those are precisely the conditions that have bolstered the case for Bitcoin as a hedge.

“Directly related to that geopolitical fragmentation is the rise of Bitcoin as people see more destabilisation and the need for alternative assets,” said Jacobs.

Pedro Solimano is a markets correspondent based in Buenos Aires. Got a tip? Email him at psolimano@dlnews.com.