Author Identifier (ORCID)
Simone Domenico Scagnelli: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3578-2359
Abstract
The question that an asset could serve as a good store of value has been brought up a number of times, especially due to major market shocks. Despite the long-held belief that gold serves as a safe haven, a growing body of contemporary literature perpetually assesses this notion. Whether cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin as the most well-known of them, as an asset, can serve as a safe haven or hedge gains traction in research. This study investigates the relationship of gold and Bitcoin to S&P 500 stock index and the possibility that these might serve as a safe haven in respect to stock indexes. The results show that, when analysed the safe haven properties of either gold or Bitcoin, there is evidence that Bitcoin has negative and statistically significant relationship with the stock market making it good proponent for safe haven. On the other hand, gold has non-positive correlation with the stock market, which adds to the basic readings that it is good hedge asset.
Keywords
Bitcoin, diversification, gold, hedge, S&P500, safe haven, stock market
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
5-1-2026
Volume
15
Issue
2
Publication Title
Journal of Central Banking Theory and Practice
Publisher
Sciendo
School
School of Business and Law
RAS ID
95200
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
First Page
233
Last Page
253
Comments
Apostolov, M., Scagnelli, S. D., & Vasile, L. (2026). Diversification for stock markets: Commodities or crypto. Journal of Central Banking Theory and Practice, 15(2), 233–253. https://doi.org/10.2478/jcbtp-2026-0019