iOS 18.4—Update Now Warning Issued To All iPhone Users
Apple has issued iOS 18.4, along with a number of cool new iPhone features. But the iOS 18.4 update also comes with a warning to update now, because it fixes a hefty list of 62 security vulnerabilities, some of which are serious.
Apple doesn't give much detail about what's fixed in iOS 18.4, to give people as much time to update their iPhones as possible before attackers can get hold of the details. But the iOS 18.4 upgrade patches several critical bugs in WebKit, the engine that underpins the Safari browser — and the Kernel at the heart of the iPhone operating system.
Apple's iOS 18.4 patches an issue in the iPhone Kernel tracked as tracked as CVE-2025-30432, that could see a malicious app able to attempt passcode entries on a locked device and cause escalating time delays after four failures.
Tracked as CVE-2025-24208, a bug in WebKit could put you at risk from a cross-site scripting attack — where an attacker injects malicious scripts into a trusted website — if you inadvertently load a malicious iframe, Apple warns on its support page.
The iOS 18.4 patches come less than a month after Apple's emergency iPhone update 18.3.2, which fixed a flaw already being used in real-life attacks.
Apple does not mention any of the vulnerabilities squashed in iOS 18.4 have been exploited in real-life scenarios yet. However, now the details are out there, it becomes more urgent to apply the update now.
Alongside iOS 18.4, Apple has issued iPadOS 17.7.6 for older devices the iPad Pro 12.9-inch 2nd generation, iPad Pro 10.5-inch, and iPad 6th generation. The update fixes a number of flaws, the most notable being an issue in CoreMedia that could allow a malicious application to elevate privileges, tracked as CVE-2025-24085. 'Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS before iOS 17.2,' the iPhone maker warns.
Meanwhile, iOS 16.7.11 for the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPad 5th generation, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, and iPad Pro 12.9-inch 1st generation fixes two issues used in real life attacks.
Lastly, Apple has squashed the same bugs for very old devices the iPhone 6, iPhone 7, iPhone SE (1st generation), iPad Air 2, iPad mini (4th generation), and iPod touch (7th generation) in iOS 15.8.4.
Apple's iOS 18.4 fixes more than 60 issues — one of the biggest list of patches I've seen from the iPhone maker in recent times. Adding to the urgency, iOS 18.4 and the other upgrades issued alongside it include important security updates for your iPhone — some of which have been used in real-life attacks. 'These vulnerabilities could potentially allow malicious code to run on affected devices, putting data at risk as well as the device itself at risk of a remote denial of service attack,' says Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at ESET.
He recommends all users install the iOS 18.4 update 'as soon as possible to ensure devices remain protected against these known threats.'
I agree. Apple's iOS 18.4 includes a long list of patched flaws, so it's a good idea to apply it now. Go to your Settings > General > Software Update and download and install iOS 18.4 now to keep your iPhone safe.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Digital Trends
44 minutes ago
- Digital Trends
Apple should make an iPhone 17 Ultra and copy these phone cameras
The iPhone has long been recognized as a leader in both mobile photography, but in recent years, companies from across the globe have aimed to dethrone it. Five years ago, Samsung launched its Ultra series, which includes the latest Galaxy S25 Ultra. More recently, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi have all launched Ultra competitors that have broken new barriers in mobile photography and videography. Fast forward to this year, and Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17 Air, a new thin with a single camera designed to usher in a thinner, lighter era for smartphones. Yet, the iPhone 16 Pro Max remains a camera powerhouse, albeit one that's limited by Apple's imagination and willingness to be the best in mobile photography. Recommended Videos For the past few months, I've used all four main Ultra phones for a variety of photos and tested them against the iPhone 16 Pro, which has the same camera as its bigger brother. The results have left me convinced that Apple should launch an iPhone 17 Ultra and copy these features from its rival Ultra phones. Here's how the iPhone 16 Pro compares and why Apple should finally push the Ultra barrier. How each camera compares Let's take a quick look at the main spec differences between each phone camera and how Apple's best smartphone camera right now stacks up. iPhone 16 Pro Galaxy S25 Ultra Vivo X200 Ultra Oppo Find X8 Ultra Primary Camera 48MP, f/1.8 24mm, OIS Size: 1/1.28' 200MP, f/1.7 24mm, OIS Size: 1/1.3' 50MP, f/1.7 35mm, OIS Size: 1/1.28' 50MP, f/1.8 23mm, OIS Size: 1-inch Ultra-wide camera 48MP, f/2.2 13mm, PDAF 50MP, f/1.9 PDAF 50MP, f/2.0 14mm, OIS 50MP, f/2.0 15mm, PDAF Telephoto Camera 1 12MP, f/2.8 120mm, OIS 5x optical zoom 10MP, f/2.4 67mm, OIS 3x optical 200MP, f/2.3 85mm, OIS 3.7x optical Macro: 3.4:1 50MP, f/2.1 70mm, OIS 3x optical Macro: 10cm Telephoto Camera 2 – 50MP, f/3.4 111mm, OIS 5x optical – 50MP, f/3.1 135mm, OIS 6x optical Macro: 35cm Max zoom 25x 100x 120x 120x Other 3D LiDAR scanner (depth) Laser autofocus Zeiss Optics Add-on zoom lens: 200mm, 2.35x Hasselblad Colors, Laser, Color Spectrum sensor Selfie Camera 12MP, f/1.9 23mm, OIS 12MP, f/2.2 26mm 50MP, f/2.5 AF 32MP, f/2.4 PDAF Examining the specs sheet reveals the key issues with Apple's current approach compared to the best smartphone cameras. First, there's the distinct lack of a secondary telephoto camera, or failing that, one capable of AI-powered zoom at larger magnifications. Then, there's the poor quality selfie camera. Finally, there's the smaller sensor sizes. Each of the Ultra competitors solves one or more of these issues, and as we'll see, that makes a significant difference to the overall pictures captured. Let's take a look. few common differences between the iPhone 16 Pro and its Ultra competitors. First, most competitors feature dual telephoto lenses, and all but Samsung offer a minimum capture distance of just 10cm. The net result is far better zoom capabilities than those available on an iPhone today. The iPhone 16 Pro is also limited to just 25x zoom, and there is significant degradation past 10x. Meanwhile, Samsung is strong at up to 30x, and Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo all prove capable at up to 100x zoom. To take it a step further, Vivo and Xiaomi also offer add-on lenses that can significantly extend the zoom. Let's take a closer look at how each camera compares to the iPhone 16 Pro and what lessons Apple can learn from its chief rivals. Comparing to the Galaxy S25 Ultra in Dubai Huawei was the first to make periscope telephoto lenses popular on smartphones, but Samsung was the first to define the term Ultra in smartphones. The Galaxy S20 Ultra delivered exceptional zoom, and one key selling point was the performance at higher magnifications. The iPhone 16 Pro is limited to a maximum magnification of 25x, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra can go up to 100x. You likely won't use that on the latter, but it does mean great performance at the 30x magnification, as we'll see. Galaxy S25 Ultra (left), iPhone 16 Pro (right) At 1x, both phones are fairly evenly matched under the Dubai sunshine, although the Galaxy S25 Ultra has much better color reproduction thanks to the higher saturation. While the iPhone 16 Pro is technically more accurate, Samsung's color science has always skewed towards saturated, and it works wonders for landscapes and scenes like this. 5x zoom photo captured with 5x telephoto lens: Galaxy S25 Ultra (left), iPhone 16 Pro (right) Both phones feature a periscope lens offering 5x optical zoom, so how do they compare? This is probably the best indication of the difference in the overall results with that lens, and looking closely at these results shows that Apple's lower resolution 12MP telephoto struggles to match the detail captured by the 50MP telephoto on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Apple's color science once again skews natural, but this is less of a concern in this scene. 10x comparison: Galaxy S25 Ultra (top), iPhone 16 Pro (bottom) The power of two telephoto lenses starts to kick in once we go into hybrid or digital zoom. Comparing the same 10x photo captured on both phones, the degradation in the iPhone 16 Pro zoom photo has become obvious. The degradation is fairly subtle so the finaly image is still completely usable, but it's definitely visible. 30x Galaxy S25 Ultra (left) vs iPhone 16 Pro 25x (right) Rounding off this comparison at 30x, the iPhone 16 Pro photo has actually improved over the quality in the previous photo. This isn't always the case, and there are plenty of other examples of higher degradation at these magnifications, but here the differences are more nuanced. The iPhone 16 Pro picture has better colors but lesser detail, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra has better detail but a less visually appealing photo. Throughout the past four months, I've yielded similar results to these. Like the Google Pixel 9 Pro, the iPhone 16 Pro is limited in its zoom capabilities, but considering the Pro Max version is priced at $200 below the Galaxy S25 Ultra, these phones are all designed to compete against each other. For Apple, Samsung doesn't pose the largest threat. Rather, it's the innovation by other companies to push the boundaries of smartphone photography. Vivo and Oppo both have incredible phones that pose a threat to Apple's camera appeal in the biggest smartphone markets in the world (outside of the US, where they're not available). Comparing to the Oppo Find X8 Ultra and Vivo X200 Ultra in Paris Vivo has been pushing the boundaries with smartphone cameras for years, and the Vivo X200 Ultra is no different. It's an incredible all-around smartphone that shows you don't need a secondary telephoto to capture incredible photos. The triple camera setup on the X200 Ultra prioritizes parity between lenses so that you can shoot with any lens and get similar results with minimal loss of quality. The one key downside to the Vivo X200 Ultra is the starting 35mm focal length; while it's designed to replicate what your eye can see, it makes comparisons really hard and feels jarring when you come from the wider cameras on most phones. Oppo has taken a somewhat different approach with the Find X8 Ultra. It's designed to have parity between the different lenses, ensuring that you don't suddenly lose quality in a photo or video when you switch between the different lenses. It includes two periscope telephoto lenses and while there are differences between the color science across the four lenses, maintaining parity in the resolution is a worthwhile endeavor. During a recent trip to Paris, I managed to test these three cameras out. Let's first start at the Eiffel Tower. For these lower magnifications, the Vivo has the brightest image but the Oppo captures the most detail. The iPhone 16 Pro mostly keeps up with its rivals, but the trend continues with images lacking color and vibrancy. As we go above 5x, the iPhone starts to struggle as it has done consistently throughout my testing. This is the biggest issue with Apple's approach to the camera: it doesn't heavily use AI to enhance captured photos, and it lacks the hardware to offer strong zoom at above 5x magnification. It's a problem that would be solved with a secondary, longer telephoto lens. Alongside daytime, both the Oppo Find X8 Ultra and Vivo X200 Ultra have proven extremely capable at night as we'll see below. Although the iPhone 16 Pro does struggle with zoom, it's still incredibly capable in lowlight. Here it has my favorite overall photo, as it has less flare from the lights and the photo visually appears to be clearer. There's little difference between Oppo and Vivo, but Apple is the winner here. This was an interesting test as there's a lot of detail, there's street lights providing background glow and it would challenge many phones. The Vivo X200 Ultra fails to capture the correct light balance here, but it captures the most detail. The lighting is slightly warm on the iPhone, but it takes the most balanced photo overall again. Without doubt, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra has the best all-around set of pictures in this scene. In particular, the 3x photo is fantastic as the phone adjusts for lens flare from the bulbs underneath the canopy, which makes the scene sharper. I dislike the Vivo's odd focal lengths again, as they feel strange but that's a personal preference. Vivo's photos are perfectly fine here, although it struggles with some of the lighting. The iPhone does well overall, but it overexposes most scenes resulting in less vibrant images. Testing the portrait mode I saved the best for last: the Oppo Find X8 Ultra is my current smartphone camera of choice, for everything from capturing memories to capturing content on new gadgets. Most of the content I use on social media, in articles, and even in video has been captured on the Find X8 Ultra, which proves to be the most versatile smartphone camera I've ever used. I've found that parity amongst the lenses works wonders during regular use, and the use of a 1-inch sensor in the main camera means you can get incredible light. It has f/1.6 aperture, which also allows it to capture stunning bokeh. It's fast become my favorite portrait mode hardware, although I still prefer Samsung's color point mode. Here's some comparison of the portrait mode across all three devices. The larger sensor of the Oppo Find X8 Ultra helps capture far more light, and the color spectrum sensor works wonders in ensuring that white balance remains accurate throughout the image. At both focal lengths, the Oppo takes the best photo, but Apple isn't far behind so better hardware and finer tuning could yield these results from an iPhone. The final test yields a clear victory for Apple. Despite the different focal lengths (these were all captured at the maximum permitted in the camera's viewfinder), there's fantastic color reproduction and dynamic range in the picture captured on the iPhone. The Oppo Find X8 Ultra is close behind, but the Vivo X200 Ultra is too aggressive in smoothening skin tones and textures. Why Apple should embrace the Ultra culture There are several reasons why Apple should adopt the trend of launching an Ultra smartphone with the very best mobile photography capabilities. The main one is obvious: Apple has positioned the iPhone as a creator's dream, but while it's the best for video, an Ultra phone would also allow it to be one of the best for photos. Beyond this, however, there are four main reasons. First, Samsung has proven that Ultra cameras make sense. The higher sale price, likely higher margin, and ability to attract people who are price-insensitive all make sense in Apple's current business model. Second, Samsung's cameras will eventually match the iPhone for video, meaning Apple will need to compete in photography as well. Third, Apple would inspire an ecosystem of additional products. Companies like Moment have built entire additional ecosystems around photography and videography on the iPhone, but providing them with better hardware would inspire the next generation of mobile photography apps and services. Fourth and finally, product differentiation. The rumored thin iPhone 17 Air and reported low sales of current-generation phones, such as the iPhone 16 Plus, suggest that Apple's lineup may have stagnated. An iPhone 17 Ultra (or future generation) would offer a product that can stand alone from its siblings. Considering the iPhone 17 Air is expected to be the more expensive phone in the lineup, an Ultra model could help Apple push even higher pricing. For now, this is the Ultra phone to use Unsurprisingly, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra remains my smartphone camera of choice, at least for photography. The iPhone will stay in my pocket for video (and as my primary phone for sensitive apps), but the Oppo Find X8 Ultra will continue to be my phone of choice for all my photos. Although the Vivo X200 Ultra takes better photos than its rivals at many focal lengths, I've found that Oppo is slightly better at others, and I prefer Oppo's color science. Furthermore, ColorOS is far smoother, with a more intuitive interface that allows for quick changes to settings and features. Then there's the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the only Ultra phone you can buy in the US. I hope that Samsung adopts a 1-inch sensor in a future Ultra phone, as well as better telephoto cameras, which would likely bring it to parity with the competition. For now, at least it still has the best portrait mode of any smartphone.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trending in Texoma — New art from Banksy to $1 sodas at a fast food chain
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Whether it's happening on the other side of the country, somewhere else in Texas, or right in our communities, Digital Producer Mariana Vela takes a look at the stories currently generating the most interest on social media. Social Rundown: Tornado wedding picture and Trump pardons celebrities 'Cybercriminals Dream' It may be time to update your social media passwords. According to cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler, a leak has exposed usernames for Apple and Google. British street art artist British artist Banksy, whose identity has been kept private, is now showcasing his latest artwork: a metal street pole featuring a silhouette of a lighthouse with beams shining from it, accompanied by text that reads, 'I want to be what you saw in me.' Shake Shack The fast food chain is now offering $1 soda drinks for customers who order through the app or website! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Is Bitcoin the new ‘Big Tech' stock?
Bitcoin has shed its outsider status and now moves in sync with big tech stocks — especially during 'risk-on' market conditions. The rise of spot Bitcoin ETFs and broader institutional adoption have blurred the lines between crypto and traditional finance, making Bitcoin more sensitive to interest rates, liquidity and global risk sentiment. Despite early comparisons to gold, Bitcoin hasn't held up well during times of crisis. While it's becoming more integrated into the financial system, Bitcoin's price is still largely driven by liquidity and belief — not fundamentals. Bitcoin used to be an outsider in the financial markets — unpredictable, uncorrelated and immune to Wall Street's mood swings. But lately? Bitcoin is moving like a tech stock — rising with the Nasdaq, falling when risk is off. From April 1 to April 8, as President Donald Trump announced new tariffs, Bitcoin plunged from $85,487 to $76,198. That drop, nearly 11 percent in a week, came alongside sharp declines in mega-cap tech stocks. Apple (AAPL) fell about 23 percent. Nvidia (NVDA) dropped almost 11 percent. Tesla (TSLA) slid more than 14 percent. Fast-forward to May 23. After stocks rallied to a dizzying V-shaped recovery, Bitcoin notched a new all-time high of $111,970 on May 22. It's the latest example of an emerging pattern. Since the 2020 pandemic crash, Bitcoin's price behavior has undergone a major shift. Once pitched as 'digital gold,' Bitcoin now tends to swing in sync with stocks, especially the tech-heavy indexes. 'In 2025, Bitcoin is no longer a purely speculative asset — it's part of the institutional financial system,' says Christopher Gannatti, global head of research at WisdomTree. 'Bitcoin is increasingly being judged not just by its ideology, but by its integration: How well it fits into a modern global portfolio.' Is crypto right for you?: Find a financial advisor who can help you maximize your investments Before the pandemic, Bitcoin's daily price moves had little in common with traditional financial markets. Between 2017 and 2019, its correlation with the S&P 500 hovered near zero, according to an analysis by the International Monetary Fund. Bitcoin didn't move with equities, didn't track commodities and didn't behave like bonds. That supported the theory that Bitcoin was a diversification tool or a hedge. Of course, back then, few investors had heard of Bitcoin, much less held it in their portfolios. Then came March 2020. As markets crashed and central banks hit the panic button with massive stimulus packages, Bitcoin's link with equities emerged. Analysts in one recent study by FTSE Russell found its correlation with U.S. tech stocks grew to 0.52 post-COVID, a sixfold increase. That's a strong relationship. Even riskier debt markets, like high-yield bonds, started moving in tandem with Bitcoin. Meanwhile, its correlation with gold — supposedly its analog cousin — moved from a negative to a positive but stayed low, at 0.15. Gold has continued to be less risky than Bitcoin, as analysts at J.P. Morgan noted in the company's mid-year outlook report. Instead of behaving like a safe haven or hedge, Bitcoin in the post-COVID era is acting like a high-beta tech stock: Volatile, reactive and deeply tied to investor sentiment. The COVID-era monetary response flooded markets with cheap money. Rate cuts and trillions in fiscal stimulus lit a fire under everything from stocks to crypto. Investors, flush with cash and stuck at home, piled into meme stocks, growth stocks and crypto. Bitcoin surged. So did Tesla. So did Ethereum. So did GameStop (GME). But when inflation spiked in 2022 and the Federal Reserve tightened the belt by raising interest rates, both stocks and Bitcoin fell together. Investors had the funds to go big during lockdown, and millions chose to bet on Big Tech and Bitcoin. Crypto and tech stocks share a common fan base: young, online and full of FOMO. J.P. Morgan analysts have noted that Bitcoin trades similarly to small-cap tech stocks — both are fueled by retail investors betting on innovation. 'Both Bitcoin and Big Tech appeal to investors with similar risk tolerance and secular conviction in transformative systems — AI for Big Tech and decentralized finance for Bitcoin,' says Gannatti. Crypto and big tech are both fueled by narrative. That helps explain why Bitcoin and the Nasdaq often peak — and plunge — together. They're riding the same wave of investor expectations. Bitcoin's rise from niche experiment to institutional asset also helped change the game. Hedge funds, asset managers and even pension funds began allocating capital to Bitcoin in 2022, and that trend continues to the present. That created overlap between fiat-based financial systems and crypto. 'Passive strategies, algorithmic trading and cross-asset portfolio models often bundle them together as 'innovation beta' or macro-levered growth proxies,' says Gannatti. The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in early 2024 only blurred the lines between traditional finance and cryptocurrency further. Investors no longer need to fuss with crypto wallets or exchanges — they can buy Bitcoin like a stock, even in their IRA, which opens the door to a broader audience. It didn't take long for investors to pile into Bitcoin ETFs. More than a dozen new funds drew $36 billion in capital in 2024 alone, pushing total assets north of $110 billion. 'This makes Bitcoin more sensitive to macro conditions — liquidity, rates and geopolitical stress — but also more influenced by traditional investor behavior, including rotations and rebalancing,' says Gannatti. Policy momentum is also pushing Bitcoin further into the mainstream. One of the clearest examples is Trump's return to the White House. He's the first pro-Bitcoin president, and a second Trump term is expected to create a friendlier regulatory environment. It's a stunning turnaround. Bitcoin was launched in 2009 as a decentralized alternative to the traditional financial system in the wake of the Great Recession. Its founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, likely never envisioned it gaining legitimacy under the leadership of a U.S. president. The new administration is already dialing back anti-crypto policies, starting with the SEC's repeal of SAB 121. That change lets banks hold Bitcoin and other digital assets, potentially unlocking a flood of institutional money and pulling Bitcoin deeper into regulated markets. On the global stage, Europe's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) is opening the doors to institutional players. The 'digital gold' narrative hasn't held up under stress. During the March 2020 crash, Bitcoin lost half its value in just a few days. Investors wanted dollars, not digital coins. 'Bitcoin's not reliable as a short-term hedge against equity drawdowns,' says Gannatti. 'During market stress, Bitcoin often behaves like a risk asset, not a safe haven.' That held true recently, too. When Trump's tariff announcement triggered a global flight to safety, gold rallied while both the Nasdaq and Bitcoin dropped double digits. Capital flowed out of speculative assets and into traditional hedges, like gold. Bitcoin — and tech stocks — didn't recover until later. Bitcoin's transformation isn't unique. The behavior of assets can — and does — change when the macroeconomic backdrop shifts. Perhaps one of the best examples is dot-com era tech stocks. In the 1990s, early internet companies were wildly speculative — overly optimistic valuations, zero profits and unpredictable swings. The bubble burst in March 2000. The Nasdaq lost 77 percent of its value over the next two years, wiping out many of the over-hyped internet companies that never turned a profit. But over time, the survivors matured into fundamentally sound businesses, such as Amazon (AMZN) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL). As valuation models improved, so did pricing stability. Bitcoin might be on a similar path. 'Bitcoin has repeatedly shown that it is here for the long term,' says Joan Nix, an economics professor at Queens College in New York. 'As greater institutional adoption occurs and liquidity increases in the crypto world, Bitcoin is in a good position to emerge as a winner, like Amazon and eBay did after the tech boom bust in the late 1990s.' Part of the confusion around Bitcoin's behavior is that nobody quite knows how to value it — or even how to categorize it. Is it a currency? A commodity? A decentralized tech protocol? Unlike stocks, Bitcoin doesn't produce cash flow. Unlike bonds, it doesn't pay interest. And unlike commodities, its utility is purely digital. That makes traditional valuation models mostly useless. Some researchers have tried tweaking existing frameworks to help retail investors gauge Bitcoin's value. But none of these frameworks fully explain its behavior. Some asset managers now use a 'mosaic' approach — blending models based on adoption curves, network effects and even energy consumption (like hash rate). Still, none of them work perfectly, making it even more difficult to predict what the price of Bitcoin might do next. 'While Bitcoin trades as a risky asset, the jury is still out on whether traditional asset pricing models can adequately account for its volatility,' says Nix. Some analysts think the high correlation between Bitcoin and tech stocks is here to stay. As long as it's treated as a risk asset by institutional players, Bitcoin will likely continue moving with the broader market. If that's the case, retail investors may be wise to pay more attention to external drivers impacting tech stocks — such as interest rates and inflation — and give less credence to crypto-specific catalysts, like halving cycles, regulatory developments and network upgrades. But others argue the correlation might be morphing. In 2025, Bitcoin's price still moves in sync with Big Tech sometimes, but they're not rising and falling for the same reasons anymore, says Gannatti. When the overall market is in a 'risk-on' mood — meaning investors feel confident and are willing to take more risks — Bitcoin and tech stocks tend to move together. 'But when equity markets rotate based on sector earnings, Bitcoin often decouples,' says Gannatti. What's happening in 2025 shows how the market has evolved. Big Tech's gains are mostly about profits. Bitcoin's gains are more about investor beliefs and how much money is sloshing around in the system. 'While short bursts of correlation may still appear, Bitcoin's narrative is becoming more distinct,' says Gannatti. So maybe Bitcoin hasn't fully surrendered its unique identity — but it's still more entangled with global finance than ever before. That's why experts like Nix caution investors against treating Bitcoin as anything but volatile. 'At this stage in its evolution, where there is little consensus over what crypto-specific drivers will explain its long-term performance, it's a speculative risk asset,' says Nix. 'Retail investors should be careful about allocating anything but a small percentage of their retirement portfolios to it.' Checking in with a financial advisor can be a good move, too. For now, Bitcoin is acting like a high-volatility, high-beta tech stock. It rises when investors' risk appetite is high and falls when macroeconomic headwinds reemerge. Since 2020, its correlation with stocks has spiked and its behavior has shifted from 'digital gold' to 'digital Nasdaq.' But that might not last forever. Similar to how tech stocks evolved from dot-com chaos to blue-chip companies, Bitcoin could chart its own path. Its unique traits — fixed supply, decentralized design, long-term bullish investors — could put Bitcoin back into a class of its own as the market matures. For now, though, anyone treating Bitcoin as a hedge or safe haven is likely to be disappointed. It tends to ride the same roller coaster as Big Tech — and it's not showing signs of stepping off anytime soon. Editorial Disclaimer: All investors are advised to conduct their own independent research into investment strategies before making an investment decision. In addition, investors are advised that past investment product performance is no guarantee of future price appreciation. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
