With bitcoin (BTC-USD) trading about 50% below its mid-November record high, cryptocurrency-focused hedge funds underperformed the most among peers in January, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Amid geopolitical tensions, tighter financial conditions and elevated U.S. equity volatility, digital-asset hedge funds lost 14.2% on average in January - the only subset to post double-digit losses, according to data from Bloomberg Hedge Fund Indices. The declines come after a more than 11% loss in December. Looking at the world's largest crypto by market cap, bitcoin (BTC-USD) dropped by 19.3% in the same period. For context, hedge funds as a whole lost just 2.3% in January and commodity-centered funds saw the largest gains with an average 0.7% return, Bloomberg noted. See how gold (XAUUSD:CUR) has recently taken over bitcoin's (BTC-USD) spotlight. Earlier in February, Wells Fargo likened the crypto frenzy phase to "internet" in the dotcom bubble.
