BlockBeats News, August 19th. Bitcoin's recent volatility has dropped to a multi-year low, with a 30-day realized volatility of about 42%, compared to around 18% for the S&P 500 Index. The volatility gap between the two has reached its smallest in history. The market is in a deadlock between buyers and sellers, with corporations and mining companies selling to cap the upside, while leveraged liquidation and continued accumulation by long-term holders limit the downside.

As Bitcoin's volatility decreases, some short-term traders are starting to shift their risk appetite towards assets such as AI stocks, tokenized stocks, stock perpetual contracts, and prediction markets. According to NYDIG research, short-term traders are more inclined to chase volatility, narrative momentum, and potential returns. "Traders seeking 5x or 10x returns" can now choose between Bitcoin, Nvidia, gold, stock perpetual contracts, 0DTE options, and sports event contracts.

Data shows that the monthly trading volume of traditional asset perpetual contracts on cryptocurrency exchanges has increased from $52 billion in January to $268 billion in June, a growth of over 5 times in six months. Meanwhile, retail traders in South Korea have notably shifted from cryptocurrencies to AI-related stocks, with trading volumes on major Korean cryptocurrency exchanges seeing a year-on-year decline of about 80%.

CoinDesk points out that the Bitcoin market currently resembles more of a "dormant" state, with decreased trading participation, shrinking market depth, and regulatory uncertainty collectively suppressing volatility. If there is substantial progress in U.S. crypto regulation, a shift in the macro environment, or the emergence of new market narratives, the current low-volatility pattern may be disrupted, potentially leading to intensified price swings due to thinner liquidity or further amplified market movements.