On Monday, gold prices hit their highest level ever, reaching $4,491 per ounce. This information comes from Gold Price. Many investors are choosing gold because it is seen as a “safe-haven asset.” Safe-haven assets are investments that keep or grow their value during difficult times in the market. According to CBS News, experts believe the rise in gold prices is happening because of growing tensions between countries, called geopolitical tensions, and changes in central bank policies known as monetary policy.
“Gold trading has been very strong this year,” said Bret Kenwell, an expert at eToro. He explained that gold is doing well because its key qualities, or “fundamentals,” are still strong. Bret also mentioned that after reaching high prices, gold is adjusting well without losing much value.
Gold has gone up by an impressive 71% since the start of the year. This is a big deal because gold usually doesn’t change much in value over short periods.
Bitcoin Falls Behind
While gold is thriving, Bitcoin has not done so well this year. Bitcoin’s value has dropped by 5.7% since January. This difference shows that some investors are losing interest in cryptocurrency. One analyst on Twitter shared this comparison: “Gold is up 65% while Bitcoin is down 5%. Bitcoin’s fair value should be around $155,000 to $215,000 now, but any price lower than that may be a mistake.”
However, another expert, known as “Bull Theory,” explained that this pattern has happened before for Bitcoin. For instance, during the 2017 cycle and the 2021 cycle, Bitcoin lagged behind gold before catching up. They believe the same thing is happening this year. Things like more money moving around globally (global money supply) and lower interest rates from the Federal Reserve are helping the market. The expert noted, “Gold is performing very strongly, but Bitcoin is struggling to catch up. However, we may soon see investments shifting from gold to Bitcoin.”
A Record Year for Gold
Gold has added about $12 trillion in value to its market this year alone. For context, this amount is seven times larger than Bitcoin’s entire value in the market, which is only $1.75 trillion. In fact, Bitcoin’s market value has dropped by about $100 billion since the beginning of the year.
What About 2026?
Looking ahead, analyst “Sykodelic” said on Tuesday that many people are underestimating what will happen in 2026. They noted that some Bitcoin supporters think a long period of declining prices is coming, but they may be wrong. Sykodelic added that Bitcoin has only increased by 70% from its previous peak, which is less than expected for such an asset in this cycle.
On Monday, Bitcoin failed to climb above $90,000. By early Tuesday in Asia, its price had fallen back to $87,500.
The post originally appeared on CryptoPotato.