Bitcoin soared in 2024. How much — if any — should you own?

cnbc.com:

Bitcoin prices soared in 2024. But you may want to tread with caution before euphoria leads you on a hasty buying spree.

Bitcoin and other crypto should generally account for just a sliver of investor portfolios — generally no more than 5% — due to its extreme volatility, according to financial experts.

Some investors may be wise to stay away from it altogether, they said.

«You're not going to have the same size allocation in bitcoin as you would Nasdaq or the S&P 500,» said Ivory Johnson, a certified financial planner and founder of Delancey Wealth Management, based in Washington, D.C.

«Whenever you have a real volatile asset class, you need less of it in the portfolio to have the same impact» as traditional assets like stocks and bonds, said Johnson, a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, was the top-performing investment of 2024, by a long shot. Prices surged about 125%, ending the year around $94,000 after starting in the $40,000 range.

By comparison, the S&P 500, a U.S. stock index, rose 23%. The Nasdaq, a tech-heavy stock index, grew 29%.

Prices popped after Donald Trump's U.S. presidential election win. His administration is expected to embrace deregulatory policies that would spur crypto demand.

Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission also — for the first time — approved exchange-traded funds that invest directly in bitcoin and ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, making crypto easier for retail investors to buy.

But experts cautioned that lofty profits may belie an underlying danger.

«With high returns come high risk, and crypto is no exception,» Amy Arnott, a portfolio strategist for Morningstar Research Services, wrote in June.

Bitcoin has been