JPMorgan strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou says the "debasement trade" is unwinding, with investors pulling billions from both bitcoin and gold ETFs simultaneously.
The trade, a bet that government money will lose value due to inflation or geopolitical chaos, had fueled inflows into scarce assets for months. But a potential easing of tensions between Iran and the US appears to be shifting sentiment.
Bitcoin ETFs saw outflows exceeding $1 billion in a single week in May, with one Thursday session alone logging $145 million in redemptions. Gold ETFs followed suit, recording parallel capital exits.
Panigirtzoglou's note suggests this is more than noise: it represents a broad pullback from the entire hedging thesis, not just a reallocation within it.