Standard Chartered Shakes Up the Investment Scene by Replacing Tesla with Bitcoin in the Famous “Magnificent 7” Index

Standard Chartered has shaken up the investment scene by testing a new version of the famous “Magnificent 7” index—this time swapping out Tesla for Bitcoin.

Standard Chartered has stirred up the investment scene by testing a modified version of the famous Magnificent 7 index, swapping out Tesla for Bitcoin.

The experiment, which the bank’s researchers have been running since December 2017, saw the new index, dubbed Mag 7B, outperform the original index with higher returns and lower volatility.

The Magnificent 7 index, which tracks the seven biggest companies in the U.S., has become a popular benchmark for investors. The original index is composed of Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, DeepMind, and Tesla.

However, Kendrick and his team decided to test a new version of the index with Bitcoin in place of Tesla. The change was made because Bitcoin, with its $1.7 trillion market cap—which is more than double Tesla’s—appeared to bring a stronger risk-reward balance to the mix.

“The empiricist in me, having studied the risk and return characteristics of Bitcoin over many years, felt that it would be a better fit than Tesla in a diversified portfolio, especially given that Bitcoin’s price movements are more closely aligned with the Nasdaq than gold, rendering it a logical addition to a technology-heavy portfolio,” explained Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital assets research.

The experiment showed that Mag 7B outpaced the original index by 5%. It also had stronger annual returns in five of the past seven years and was nearly 2% less volatile on average, making it a more stable choice than Tesla.

The experiment is sure to spark debate over whether Bitcoin truly deserves a spot alongside the biggest tech giants in a single index.

The world’s leading cryptocurrency has seen its market cap soar past $1.7 trillion, more than double that of Tesla and quadruple the size of the smallest Magnificent 7 company, Nvidia.

This makes Bitcoin a strong contender for institutional investments as it is accepted in global portfolios and acts as both a tech asset and a hedge.

Moreover, with the rise of spot Bitcoin ETFs in early 2024, trading BTC has become just as seamless as trading major stocks. According to Kendrick, Bitcoin now serves multiple roles—both as a hedge against traditional finance and as a key asset in tech portfolios.

According to the latest news, a key U.S. tariff decision on April 2 could impact the crypto market as investors are moving out of the Nasdaq and into Bitcoin. Some experts also believe the price of BTC could rise to $90,000.

Following the news, BTC is trading up over 3.5% on Monday morning, pushing the total crypto market cap to $2.9 trillion. Other major cryptocurrencies are also in the green, with ETH rising 4%, XRP increasing by 3.2%, Solana jumping 6.5%, and Dogecoin displaying gains of 3%.