Gold Reasserts Safe Haven Status, But Bitcoin’s Path May Be Brighter: Analysts

Bitcoin sank on Thursday and Friday, continuing its decline for much of the past week as investors pivoted away from the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency in favor of the most traditional safe haven asset: gold.

This recent trend appeared to restore the paths that the two assets have traveled for most of 2025, with gold’s gains outpacing those of BTC. 

“There’s no denying it, gold had a great year. Especially during the tariffs—even if you’re a hardcore Bitcoiner, you have to respect what gold did in the first quarter,” Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas told Decrypt. 

The two assets have drawn increasing attention as the Trump administration’s trade war has raised fears of rising inflation and global economic slowdown. But gold has spiked a whopping 27%, while Bitcoin is up about 12% year-to-date. 

That trend started to reverse earlier this month as Bitcoin reached an all-time high near $112,000 and gold fell from its previous record above $3,440 per ounce. But now Bitcoin has fallen ore than 6% from the peak, and gold remains closer to its own recent high.

The “gold story is not exactly over,” Christopher Wong, FX strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, told Decrypt, noting Moody’s stripping of the U.S.’s last top credit rating. 

“This adds to doubts over the U.S. dollar as a safe haven and should structurally weigh on the dollar over time,” he said. “In times of economic uncertainty and a lack of safe haven, gold’s appeal as a true safe haven stands out and remains a reliable portfolio diversifier.”

Still, Bitcoin may have the brighter prospects, some analysts have suggested, as traditional finance firms increase their participation in the space to meet investor demand.

CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill noted to Decrypt that Bitcoin funds have added about $7.3 billion since late April, while gold exchange-traded funds have shed approximately $4.9 billion.

And the spot Bitcoin ETFs approved by the SEC last year now have about $127 billion in managed assets, led by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)—which was the fastest fund in history to reach $10 billion—holding nearly $70 billion of that total. 

“Since IBIT launched, it’s still doubling gold,” Butterfill said. “To me, it’s like gold won the third set of a tennis match it’s losing. Gold won the battle, [but] Bitcoin is still winning the war.”

He further noted that “over the last five weeks, the flows data suggest BTC is winning.”

Edited by James Rubin