Gold is decisively beating Bitcoin this year, not just in price gains but in winning the confidence of major financial institutions. While Bitcoin has fallen since the launch of its spot ETFs, gold has surged over 58% in the same period. According to market strategist Mark Connors, the core issue is that large asset allocators, central banks, and sovereign wealth funds still overwhelmingly prefer gold due to its centuries of established trust and financial channels.
The performance gap has widened, with Bitcoin down over 30% from its July peak as gold steadily climbs. A key differentiator is gold’s practical use in global trade, such as BRICS nations using it to settle oil transactions, a role Bitcoin has not yet filled. Connors attributes Bitcoin’s acute sensitivity to a broader liquidity squeeze, explaining that when U.S. Treasury spending slows, Bitcoin feels the pain more sharply due to its leveraged structure.
While Bitcoin’s long-term potential as a neutral asset remains, its path to becoming a global reserve is slower than many expected. The recent divergence underscores that large institutions are not choosing between gold and Bitcoin; they are selecting the asset that fits their existing mandates, and for now, that asset is gold. Trust and habit, it seems, take time to build.
