It’s no secret that Bitcoin BTC$89,145.47 Currently, many claims have failed, including claims that it acts as an inflation hedge or a safe haven in times of uncertainty.
During a period of high inflation, geopolitical skirmishes, and interest rate uncertainty, gold rose more than 80%, while Bitcoin fell 14% year over year.
In theory, as the value of money falls, the amount of assets that protect against inflation should increase. For gold and other precious metal complexes, that theory worked. Not so much with digital gold.
This divergence raises a new question: Why would anyone buy Bitcoin now when precious metals and stocks have higher returns?
CoinDesk asked a group of long-time Bitcoin bulls how they defend their purchase of Bitcoin:
The comfort of knowing (Jesse Gilger, senior advisor at Gannett Wealth Advisors, a Bitcoin-native wealth management firm)
“The current surge in gold is a temporary political distraction. In times of fear, financial institutions often lack the foresight to embrace true step-changes in technology, so they tend to retreat to what is known. We are now seeing a historic standard deviation move in the GLD/gold price.”BTC It’s a power law ratio, but hard assets are a long-term strategy.
While gold has a tradition, Bitcoin has shown technical stability at the protocol level for over 15 years. As the market realizes that digital scarcity is more efficient than physical heritage, we can expect a reversion to the mean that will eventually catch up with Bitcoin. ”
Transfer of Ownership (Mark Connors, Chief Investment Officer, Risk Dimensions)
“Zooming out is exactly 2025. Zooming in provides a signal.” “Zooming in” shows that Bitcoin has not failed the macro test compared to gold. It is currently obscured by three internal forces that most observers miss.
“This is not a demand issue, it’s a supply distribution event. Institutional ETF inflows are huge, but they’re not driving prices up. They’re just absorbing a decade’s worth of supply that early adopters were dumping. We’re seeing a transfer of ownership, not a loss of interest.”
The Problem with Tech Stocks (Charlie Morris, ByteTree CIO)
“What’s interesting is that the gold bug and Bitcoin maximization are using the same narrative: limited supply, money printing, inflation, war, chaos, etc. Yet, I believe that gold is a reserve asset in the real world and Bitcoin is a reserve asset in the digital world. Today’s problems are in the real world. Bitcoin is not failing, it is just retreating in step with internet stocks. Bitcoin has always been closely correlated since its inception.”
Rotation delayed? (Peter Lane, CEO of Jacobi Asset Management)
“The ‘digital gold’ narrative has not really emerged, even when tested. Bitcoin has not functioned like a true inflation hedge or safe-haven asset during times of geopolitical stress or financial instability. Instead, gold and silver have emerged as the clear winners in 2025.”
Precious metals have had years of mass-market comfort, something Bitcoin has yet to have. In the end, the rotation was delayed, BTCBut for now, investors are gravitating toward what they know and trust. ”
We need another demand driver (Anthony Pompliano, ProCap Financial Chairman and CEO)
“For the past five years, Bitcoin has been primarily used as an inflation hedge, but with deflation on the horizon, Bitcoin will need to find other demand to continue to drive the asset higher. I remain optimistic about Bitcoin’s future outlook, but recognize that the macro environment and Bitcoin market participants are rapidly evolving.”
Is there a permanent solution to inflation? (David Parkinson – Maske CEO, BtC Lightning)
The view that “digital gold has failed” is premature noise. Bitcoin’s fixed supply and network growth have continued to deliver incredible returns for years, relative to inflation and even above gold. Bitcoin is now emerging as the internet’s unique financial asset. This is not a “hedge” against inflation, but a permanent solution to inflation. Gold and other traditional inflation-hedging assets are enjoying their moment, and eventually Bitcoin will outperform them all and outlast them all.
The age of Bitcoin is coming (Andre Dragosh – Bitwise)
“Consider that the rally in precious metals is ultimately due to something you could call ‘muscle memory.’ In times of uncertainty, investors first turn to their familiar assets, which are now gold and silver.
To be fair, Bitcoin has better store of value properties than gold, but it is still perceived as a risky asset. However, I am fairly confident that once traditional hard assets soar to exorbitant levels and capital begins to rotate into more attractive valued assets like Bitcoin, Bitcoin will start to be bid up.
Based on the relative Mayer multiples of Bitcoin and gold, Bitcoin has already reached FTX boom levels last seen in 2022 compared to gold. Additionally, the price of Bitcoin is significantly undervalued relative to both the 2026 macro environment and the level of global money supply, and is most likely to start rising in the coming months.
Read more: Bitcoin is in a deep bear market versus gold, and history suggests the decline could continue
