Биткоин теряет позиции: от «цифрового золота» к рисковому активу Headline: Bitcoin Loses Ground: From Digital Gold to Risky Asset

Some have perceived cryptocurrency as a replacement for the dollar as the global reserve currency.

Over the past five years, gold has surpassed Bitcoin in terms of returns, raising questions about the narrative of cryptocurrency as a digital form of the precious metal. This is reported by DL News.

On Friday, gold prices experienced a sharp decline from an earlier historical high. Bitcoin responded with a relatively modest drop, yet over the last year, its value has declined by approximately 20%.

«Bitcoin has never been a reliable safe haven; it is much more volatile than gold and is susceptible to multiple double-digit declines,» stated Nansen analyst Jake Cunnis in the publication.

Proponents of the first cryptocurrency often position it as a digital means of preserving value, similar to precious metals, citing its limited supply. Indeed, over the last five years, Bitcoin’s price in dollars has increased by 150%.

During certain time periods, the cryptocurrency’s prices have moved in tandem with gold, such as during the banking crisis in the U.S. in 2023. However, for the most part, Bitcoin’s dynamics correlate more closely with other volatile assets, especially stocks of technology companies.

«In specific scenarios, it exhibits safe haven characteristics, but at its core, it remains a risky asset rather than ‘digital gold,'» Cunnis believes.

Tim Sang, a senior researcher at HashKey Group, pointed out another factor related to liquidity. According to him, the issue with the «digital gold» concept lies in the differing pricing logic.

Investors in precious metals focus on macroeconomic imbalances and sovereign credit risks. In this context, Bitcoin remains sensitive to high-frequency trading and leverage usage. Those hedging against global economic risks do not turn to digital assets, Sang added.

It was leveraged trading that struck Bitcoin in October when, shortly after hitting a maximum of $126,080, a wave of liquidations worth a record $19 billion led to a steep price drop. Since then, the cryptocurrency has struggled to regain its position, mostly trading below $100,000.

In recent months, some experts, including former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, have promoted investments in Bitcoin as «trading devaluation» — a hedge against the depreciation of fiat currencies. However, in January, gold and silver soared amid a weakening dollar, while cryptocurrency lagged significantly behind.

In January, Canadian billionaire Frank Giustra reiterated his critique of the Bitcoin community for aggressively promoting the digital currency in a cult-like manner.

He noted that active supporters often change the narrative based on market conditions. The entrepreneur highlighted key milestones in the «identity crisis» of the coin:

«Today is a perfect example of why Bitcoin is not gold. Amid uncertainty surrounding Greenland, the metal rose sharply, while the cryptocurrency fell by the same percentage. One asset is a ‘safe haven,’ the other is a risky instrument,» Giustra remarked.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao suggested a potential new narrative for Bitcoin in January, claiming that the digital asset could supplant the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

Simultaneously, journalist-podcaster Tucker Carlson, during an interview with Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Asset Management and a well-known cryptocurrency critic, also entertained this possibility.

As early as last year, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong claimed that Bitcoin would inevitably replace the dollar globally if the U.S. did not address its national debt issue.

This notion has also been expressed outside the crypto industry by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in a shareholder letter in March, warning that uncontrolled U.S. debt and a growing budget deficit could undermine the dominance of the national currency worldwide.

It’s worth noting that ARK Invest founder and CEO Cathie Wood explained the advantages of Bitcoin over gold due to the limited supply of the cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, discussions are growing within the community regarding the potential threat to the digital asset posed by quantum computing.