After its recent surge to $60,000, Bitcoin has become the best performing asset class of the decade with an annualized return of 230%, data shows. What Happened: The data, which was compiled by CEO of Compound Capital Advisors Charlie Bilello, examined the returns of the 17 best-performing asset classes since 2011. Asset Class Returns over the Last 10 Years... Data via @ycharts pic.twitter.com/yRvdkIX1BV — Charlie Bilello (@charliebilello) March 13, 2021 Since 2011, Bitcoin’s cumulative gains have exceeded 20,000,000%, far outpacing the cumulative gains of the Nasdaq 100 and US Large Caps, which recorded returns of 541% and 282%, respectively. On an annualized scale, Bitcoin returned 230% - 10x higher than the Nasdaq 100, which was the second-best performing asset class. For the same period, U.S Large Caps recorded an annualized return of 14%, high yield bonds gained 5.4%, while gold returned 1.5%. Why It Matters: As more institutional investors have begun to pay attention to Bitcoin as an asset class, there is market-wide speculation that a Bitcoin ETF may soon be a reality in the U.S. A series of ETF-related job postings by Grayscale suggested that the largest digital asset manager with $40 billion in AUM might be gearing up for its own ETF launch. “The race to launch the first Bitcoin ETF is heating up,” said Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF research for CFRA Research to Bloomberg. “It’s more of a question on when the SEC will approve a Bitcoin ETF, not if.” Price Action: Bitcoin’s price has retraced from its high of $61,054 on Sunday. The market-leading digital currency was trading at $55,360 at press time, down 1.78% in the past 24-hours. Image: Tech Daily via Unsplash See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaBlockchain Game Token ALICE Rises 60,000% in 30 Seconds Following Binance Listing© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.