Richard Teng, CEO of crypto exchange Binance, reportedly said Bitcoin’s recent volatility is consistent with what’s happening across major global asset classes.
Speaking at a media roundtable in Sydney, Teng told Reuters on Friday that all markets move through cycles of volatility. “What you’re seeing is not only happening to crypto prices,” he said, emphasizing that Bitcoin’s decline reflects broader market behavior.
Teng added that Bitcoin’s latest drop has been driven by widespread deleveraging and a shift toward risk aversion — trends he said are visible across most major assets. “At this point in time, there’s a bit of risk-off and deleveraging happening,” he noted.
Bitcoin is currently trading just above $82,000, according to CoinMarketCap, down almost 35% from its Oct. 6 all-time high of more than $126,000. The overall crypto market cap has fallen to $2.84 trillion, roughly 33.6% below its peak of $4.28 trillion.
Healthy market action
Teng pointed out that even with the recent pullback, Bitcoin is still trading at more than twice its price from early 2024. “Over the past 1.5 years, the crypto sector has performed very, very well, so it’s not unexpected that people are taking profits,” he reportedly said.
“Any consolidation is actually healthy for the industry, for the industry to take a breather, find its feet.”
Is Bitcoin’s volatility really comparable to traditional markets?
Teng’s assertion that Bitcoin’s volatility is on par with major asset classes contrasts with what is generally considered the mainstream view. In 2025 so far, BitBo data shows Bitcoin’s 60-day BTC-USD volatility fluctuating between brief dips near 1% and highs approaching 2.44%.
Historical data, however, does indicate that Bitcoin’s extreme volatility has been steadily declining as adoption and liquidity grow. Research from 21Shares in September shows annualized volatility peaking at 181% in 2013, while dropping to as low as 23% this year.
A 21Shares comparison between Bitcoin and the S&P 500 further highlights this trend: during this year’s market turbulence, the S&P 500’s annualized volatility briefly exceeded Bitcoin’s. Still, that crossover occurred during an unusually volatile period for traditional markets — a spike that has since sharply reversed.
V-Lab data shows Bitcoin’s annualized volatility currently sitting well above 50%, compared with just over 15% for the S&P 500. Still, several tech stocks do exhibit greater volatility than Bitcoin.
Tesla’s annualized volatility is now above 65%, AMD’s exceeds 73%, and server maker Super Micro Computer also sits at around 73%. Government intelligence software firm Palantir is seeing roughly 63% volatility as well. However, these remain exceptions rather than the norm in traditional markets.
