It is no secret that bitcoin It is currently failing in its many narratives, including the claim that it can serve as a hedge against inflation or a safe haven asset amid uncertainty.
While gold is up more than 80% during this period of high inflation, geopolitical skirmishes, and interest rate uncertainty, bitcoin is down 14% year over year.
In theory, assets that protect against inflation should rise when the value of money falls. For gold and the rest of the precious metals complex, that theory has worked. In the case of digital gold, not so much.
That divergence has raised new questions: Why would anyone buy bitcoin now when precious metals and stocks give better returns?
CoinDesk has asked a group of long-time bitcoin bulls, and here’s how they make the case for buying bitcoin:
Comfort in the Known (Jessy Gilger, Senior Advisor at Gannett Wealth Advisors, a bitcoin-native wealth management firm)
“The current rise in gold is a temporary political distraction. In times of fear, institutions tend to retreat to what they know because they often lack the foresight to embrace a genuine phase shift in technology. We are currently seeing a historic one standard deviation move in the GLD/BTC power law ratio, but hard assets are a long game.
While gold has the heritage, bitcoin has proven to be technically stable at the protocol level for over fifteen years. “Expect regression to the mean where Bitcoin eventually catches up as the market realizes that digital scarcity is more efficient than physical scarcity.”
Transfer of ownership (Mark Connors, Chief Investment Officer at Risk Dimensions)
“Zooming out is so 2025. The signal is provided if you zoom in.” If you zoom in, Bitcoin is not failing the macro test versus gold. It is currently limited by three internal forces that most observers overlook.
“It’s not a demand issue; it’s a supply distribution event. Institutional ETF inflows are massive, but they are not driving up the price; they are simply absorbing a decade’s worth of supply thrown away by early adopters. We are witnessing a transfer of ownership, not a lack of interest.”
Tech Stock Trouble (Charlie Morris, CIO ByteTree)
“The funny thing is that gold fans and bitcoin maxis use the same narratives: limited supply, money printing, inflation, war, chaos, etc. However, I believe that gold is the reserve asset for the real world and bitcoin for the digital world. Today’s problems are in the real world. Bitcoin is not failing, it is simply falling in line with internet stocks, with which it has always been closely correlated since it emerged.”
Is delayed rotation coming? (Peter Lane, CEO of Jacobi Asset Management)
“The ‘digital gold’ narrative hasn’t really emerged when put to the test. Bitcoin hasn’t performed as a true inflation hedge or safe haven during periods of geopolitical tension and monetary uncertainty. Instead, gold and silver have been the overwhelming winners in 2025.
There is a long-standing mass-market comfort with precious metals that Bitcoin simply hasn’t earned yet. “I still think we will eventually see a delayed rotation towards BTC, but for now investors are gravitating towards what they know and trust.”
Need another demand driver (Anthony Pompliano, president and CEO of ProCap Financial)
“Bitcoin has largely been a hedge against inflation over the past half-decade, but with deflation likely on the horizon, bitcoin will need to find other demand to continue driving the asset higher. I remain bullish on bitcoin’s future prospects, but recognize that the macro environment and bitcoin market participants are evolving rapidly.”
A permanent solution to inflation? (David Parkinson – CEO Musquet, BtC Lightning)
The idea that digital gold has failed is premature noise. Bitcoin’s fixed supply and network growth continue to generate outsized returns against inflation and indeed against gold over a multi-year horizon. Bitcoin is now emerging as the native monetary asset of the Internet. It is not a “protection” against inflation: it is a permanent solution. Gold and other traditional inflation hedge assets are enjoying their moment; Ultimately, Bitcoin outlasts and outshines them all.
Bitcoin’s time is coming (Andre Dragosch – Bitwise)
“I think the rally in precious metals is ultimately due to something you could call ‘muscle memory’ – in times of uncertainty, investors turn first to those assets they are familiar with – and that appears to be gold and silver right now.
To be fair, bitcoin is still perceived as a risky asset, although it has better store-of-value characteristics than gold. But I’m pretty sure bitcoin will start to catch a bid once traditional hard assets have inflated to obscene levels and capital starts rotating into assets with more attractive values like bitcoin.
Based on a relative Mayer multiple between bitcoin and gold, bitcoin is already at FTX breakout levels last seen in 2022 relative to gold. There is also a huge undervaluation of bitcoin relative to both the macroeconomic environment in 2026 and the level of global money supply that will most likely resolve upwards in the coming months.
Read more: Bitcoin in deep bear market against gold, history suggests downside may persist
