BTC-Beta

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Your portfolio's hidden Bitcoin exposure — even if you do not own any crypto.

Quick Answer

What is BTC-Beta?

BTC-Beta is a portfolio's sensitivity to Bitcoin price moves, calculated the same way as traditional beta but with Bitcoin daily returns substituted for the market index. BTC-Beta of 1.5 means the portfolio moves 1.5% for every 1% Bitcoin move on average. Even portfolios with no direct crypto holdings often have meaningful BTC-Beta through tech and growth exposure.

β_BTC = Cov(Rp, R_BTC) / Var(R_BTC)

Formula

βBTC = Cov(Rp, RBTC) / Var(RBTC)
RBTC = Bitcoin daily returns · same regression mechanics as traditional beta

Identical math to traditional beta — just substitutes BTC returns for the market benchmark.

Intuition — what is this number telling you?

Since roughly 2020, crypto correlation has become a meaningful portfolio risk. Even portfolios with no direct crypto holdings often exhibit meaningful BTC-Beta through MSTR, COIN, semiconductor names, and growth stocks broadly. Tracking BTC-Beta is the cleanest single number for "how much hidden crypto exposure do I have?"

Worked example

Step-by-step

Over the past year, BTC daily return variance was 0.0009. Covariance of your portfolio (tech-heavy growth) with BTC was 0.00045.

BTC-Beta = 0.00045 / 0.0009 = 0.50

You move 0.5% per 1% BTC move, even if you hold no crypto. That is the indirect exposure through MSTR, NVDA, COIN, and other crypto-correlated tech.

What's a good BTC-Beta value?

"Good" BTC-Beta depends on whether you want crypto exposure. Below 0.1 = effectively zero exposure. 0.2–0.5 = meaningful indirect exposure typical of growth-tilted equity. Above 1.0 = direct or substantial crypto allocation.

Calculate your BTC-Beta free

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Related metrics

Beta  ·  R-Squared  ·  Diversification Score

Frequently asked questions about BTC-Beta

Why measure BTC-Beta?

Crypto has become a real macro factor. Tech-heavy portfolios often correlate to BTC more than investors realize. Measuring it makes the hidden exposure visible.

What stocks have high BTC-Beta?

MicroStrategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN), Marathon Digital (MARA), Riot (RIOT), Tesla, NVIDIA, and broadly the QQQ to a lesser degree.

Does BTC-Beta change over time?

Yes — crypto correlation regimes shift. In risk-off periods correlation rises; in risk-on periods it sometimes decouples.

Does Foliolytic compute BTC-Beta?

Yes — alongside S&P 500 beta and VT beta in the market metrics section.

See BTC-Beta on your real portfolio

Upload your brokerage CSV — Foliolytic computes BTC-Beta plus 70+ other metrics using real historical prices, real Treasury yields, and real CPI data. Free, no signup, your data stays in your browser.

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