Gold and Bitcoin both have remarkable but very different economic histories. Gold, a precious metal, has been used as currency and a store of value since Antiquity. Its official price was fixed at $35 an ounce in 1934 (Bretton Woods) until the end of the dollar's convertibility in 1971, then it fluctuated freely on the markets. In fact, gold has crossed many currencies (from the gold of ancient Egypt to the bars held by central banks) and remains today a traditional safe haven asset.
History of gold (key points):
Antiquity to 20th century – Universal currency (coins, bars) and base of reserves.
20th century – Bretton Woods: the dollar glued to gold ($35/oz), convertibility suspended in 1971 (Nixon)
Since 1971 – Flexible price, driven by inflation, crises and demand (jewelry, industry, banks
central banks).
Bitcoin, meanwhile, was born in 2009 from a white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto. It is the first decentralized cryptocurrency, designed as a "currency of modern times". In just over a decade, its price has seen soaring rises (for example +1,370% in 2017) to recent records. For example, Bitcoin crossed the psychological threshold of $100,000 on December 5, 2024,
reaching around $104,000.
History of Bitcoin (key points):
2009 – Creation of the Bitcoin network (initial value almost zero).
2013, 2017 – First major records (~$1,000 then ~$20,000).
2021 – New peak close to $69,000.
2024–2025 – Growing adoption (ETFs, more favorable US policy) and the fourth halving in April 2024 push the price towards $100,000.
Price evolution: gold vs Bitcoin
In the long term, gold and Bitcoin have very different trajectories. The price of gold has climbed gradually, in stages. For example, after being around $35 an ounce in the 1970s, it reached around $1,900 in 2011 (historical peak until then) and then $2,070 in 2020 (COVID-19). In April 2025, gold even broke its record by exceeding $3,500 an ounce. These increases often reflect
periods of high inflation or geopolitical tensions (1980 recession, 2008-2011 crisis, pandemic, wars, etc).
Bitcoin, by contrast, has seen extremely sharp rises but also violent corrections. Starting from almost zero in 2009, it exceeded $1,000 in 2013, then $20,000 in 2017. After a fall in 2018, it rose again to peak around $69,000 in 2021. The recent surge in Bitcoin (more than $100,000 at the end of 2024) is fueled by institutional adoption (ETFs in 2023) and by US policy deemed favorable to cryptos.
These developments are reflected in recent price charts. For example, the figure above compares in parallel the price of gold (USD/ounce) and that of Bitcoin (USD/bitcoin). We see that gold evolves "smoothly" on the scale of several decades, while Bitcoin explodes and falls on short cycles. These dynamics will be commented with numerical data in the following sections.
Compared performances over several periods
In recent years, Bitcoin has largely outperformed gold in terms of total return. Over 1, 5 and 10 years for example, the two assets show the following returns:
As this table shows (source CoinGecko), over 10 years Bitcoin has multiplied its value by more than 270 times, while gold has "only" increased by about 2.3 times. Even in a recent year (end 2023–end 2024), Bitcoin gained ~153% against ~35% for gold. This relative dramaticity of Bitcoin comes from its small initial base and its speculative cycle, but it also implies a much
higher risk. Gold certainly offers a lower performance, but it is more stable and decoupled from financial bubbles.
In summary, in the short term, Bitcoin is the champion of returns (when it goes up), and gold is more of a value preservation investment. In the long term, even if gold gains quite regularly, Bitcoin has virtually crushed gold in cumulative growth. These figures illustrate why many investors comparing the two sometimes speak of Bitcoin as "digital gold", even if their risk/return profile remains very different.
Volatility and risks
Volatility is one of the key criteria distinguishing these assets. Bitcoin is notorious for its brutal variations, while gold is much calmer. For example, according to a financial study, the volatility of gold is about 30% of that of Bitcoin. In terms of approximate annual standard deviation of returns, we can estimate today a volatility of gold around 15–20% against 60–70% for Bitcoin (in 2020–2024).
In this illustrative graph, we see that Bitcoin (orange bar) undergoes much stronger fluctuations than gold (gold bar). This difference is confirmed by quantitative analysis: Bitcoin shows several collapses of an amplitude of the order of -50% to -80% in a few months at the end of its bullruns, while gold generally falls by the order of -10% to -15% in the worst years. In other words, gold is significantly less volatile and offers a smoother path.
This extreme volatility of Bitcoin has two consequences: on the one hand, it attracts investors looking for strong gains in a short time; on the other hand, it discourages those who want stability. Gold, on the contrary, is valued for its stable store of value profile. As the World Gold Council points out, gold has the particularity of decoupling (decorrelating) from financial markets in times of stress, which has not always been the case for Bitcoin.
Gold and Bitcoin as safe havens
Traditionally, gold is considered the safe haven par excellence. Historically, in the event of an inflationary, financial or geopolitical crisis, gold retains or gains value. For example, the 2008-2011 financial crisis and the war in Ukraine in 2022 pushed gold to peaks (in March 2022,
gold exceeded $2,070). Investors buy gold to diversify their portfolios and protect themselves against uncertainty: "gold's ability to decouple from the stock market in times of stress makes it unique among financial hedges," notes the World Gold Council. Central banks themselves buy massive amounts of gold (several thousand tons per year since 2022)
to diversify their reserves.
Bitcoin's status as a safe haven is more controversial. Some see it as a hedge against inflation (its programmed scarcity to 21 million units will create a 'monetary policy without a central bank'). In practice, recent studies show that Bitcoin reacts favorably to an increase in inflation expectations (which partly confirms its role as a 'hedge against currency').
However, unlike gold, Bitcoin falls significantly during financial uncertainty shocks (stock market crisis, banking panic). In other words, at the beginning of a crisis, Bitcoin has not always played its role as a safe haven: it often falls with stocks (as in March 2020) before rising again with a delay.
In summary, in times of crisis, gold is still widely preferred as a safe and recognized asset, while Bitcoin is not (yet) established as a reliable safe haven for most investors. Academic research confirms that "unlike gold, Bitcoin prices decrease in response to financial uncertainty shocks, which rejects the safe haven quality." Bitcoin therefore remains an asset that is primarily speculative and very cyclical, even if it is gradually gaining recognition (ETFs, institutional adoption) and diversification potential.