Visualizing Major Asset Class Returns in 2024

Visualizing Major Asset Class Returns in 2024

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For a handful of asset classes, 2024 was a banner year.

Bitcoin surged to all-time highs, gold saw its best performance in 14 years, and the U.S. dollar rallied thanks to a strong U.S. economy. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 saw its best two-year run in over 25 years. On the flip side, bonds experienced lackluster performance amid reflationary concerns.

This graphic shows major asset class returns in 2024, based on data from TradingView.

Bitcoin and Gold Outperform in 2024

With 120.8% returns, bitcoin exceeded the returns of gold and U.S. large caps by more than fourfold in 2024, fueled by broader investor adoption and Trump’s re-election.

Retail and institutional investors alike poured billions into spot Bitcoin ETFs following U.S. regulatory approval in early 2024. In just 11 months, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF raked in $50 billion in inflows, the fastest rate on record.

Since 2015, bitcoin has consistently outperformed major asset classes, with the exception of 2022 and 2018.

Gold, with 27.2% returns, had its best year since 2010 driven by central bank purchases, interest rate cuts, and geopolitical instability.

In particular, central banks across China, Türkiye, and India have been increasingly buying gold over the past two years as an alternative to the U.S. dollar. This reflects a wider trend among global central banks, where gold makes up 11% of reserves, nearly doubling from 2008.

When it came to U.S. equities, megacap companies investing in AI-related technologies continued to push the S&P 500 to multiple record highs. Overall, large caps outperformed small caps by 13.2% last year in a highly concentrated market.

For emerging market stocks, returns were a modest 4%. Typically, a strengthening U.S. dollar leads emerging market equities to underperform as foreign currencies face greater pressure. Last year, developing-country stocks saw the greatest underperformance against U.S. equities in more than three decades.

As the worst-performing major asset class, long duration Treasurys sank 11.7%. Along with this, U.S. corporate bonds fell 2.6% while short-term Treasurys declined marginally.

Looking ahead, bond investors are wary of an inflation resurgence and a widening deficit under a Trump administration in light of proposed tax cuts and the impact of sweeping tariffs on the government budget.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic from a long-term perspective, check out this graphic on the growth of $100 by asset class over the past five decades.