Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin surpasses $118,000, intensifying debate with gold proponents.
- Analysts suggest gold holders consider partial allocation to bitcoin as a hedge.
- Bitcoin's year-to-date return far exceeds gold, fueling the philosophical divide.
Bitcoin reached a new all-time high this week, crossing the $118,000 mark and sparking renewed debate between gold maximalists and bitcoin supporters.
Value of Bitcoin
The milestone prompted gold advocate Debra Robinson to question the value of bitcoin, posting on social media:
Imagine paying $118k for a set of man-made numbers
Preston Pysh
Investor Preston Pysh responded by highlighting concerns over the verifiability of gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs):
Imagine paying for man-made numbers on GLD where you can’t even audit whether the numbers are real or not.
Alden chimes in
Macro strategist Lyn Alden took a balanced approach, suggesting that gold holders could consider allocating a small portion of their portfolio to bitcoin.
Alden stated:
Precious metal enthusiasts could buy a Bitcoin position of like 5% of their metals position.
She argued this could hedge against the risk of bitcoin gradually capturing a larger share of the safe-haven market, noting bitcoin’s substantial outperformance versus gold in recent years.
Year-to-date, bitcoin is up nearly 140%, while gold has risen just over 40%.
For a clear comparison of historical performance, see the BTC vs gold chart.
Eric Balchunas weighs in
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas weighed in, attributing resistance among gold maximalists to emotion rather than data.
Balchunas commented:
Pride is a hell of a drug. You see it a lot on here—people just unable to take the L sometimes.
Despite some calls for coexistence between the two assets, the online debate highlights widening philosophical divisions as bitcoin continues to reach record highs.
