Bitcoin is the ‘most crowded’ investment in the world right now

By Jeff Cox

In the BofA survey, bitcoin supplanted the Nasdaq and the short dollar trade as the most crowded. Bitcoin got 26 percent of the vote, edging out the Nasdaq, with 22 percent and the bet against the greenback, which took 21 percent of the vote.

The two other “crowded trades” have done very well this year, with the Nasdaq surging just shy of 20 percent and the dollar tumbling nearly 10 percent against a basket of its global competitors.

In addition to worries over the bitcoin trade, fund managers are backing away from U.S. stocks. The collective allocation to domestic equities fell to a net 28 percent underweight, which is the highest level since November 2007, shortly after the market hit its precrisis highs.

Investors also are beginning to fret about global growth, even as economists are upgrading their expectations. Just 25 percent expect a stronger global picture over the next 12 months, down from 62 percent at the beginning of 2017.

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