Editor’s Note
In a surprising shift, gold has recently exhibited greater volatility than Bitcoin, reaching its highest 30-day volatility level since the 2008 financial crisis. This reversal underscores how traditional safe havens can behave unpredictably during periods of intense market stress.
Gold has surpassed Bitcoin in a context of strong market turbulence. Its recent price fluctuations even exceed those of Bitcoin, highlighting a rare reversal of risk dynamics that few investors anticipated.
Data indicates that gold’s 30-day volatility has reached a new peak of 48.68 and stood at 41.04 at the time of writing. It is noteworthy that this level had not been reached since the 2008 financial crisis.
In comparison, Bitcoin’s price volatility is currently oscillating around 39%, despite its reputation as a highly speculative asset.
This rise in gold’s volatility follows its sharpest decline in over a decade, with a drop of nearly 10% in a single session. The yellow metal thus fell from a peak of $5,600 to around $4,400 per ounce during its Asian session.
Since Bitcoin’s creation 17 years ago, gold has been more volatile than BTC only twice. The most recent instance dates back to May 2019, during a flare-up of trade tensions triggered by threats of tariffs from US President Donald Trump.
These extreme movements in gold occur within a broader context of macroeconomic uncertainty. As noted in a recent publication, the resurgence of fears regarding geopolitical instability, concerns about currency depreciation, and doubts about the Federal Reserve’s independence have driven investors to rush into precious metals.
Gold’s recovery has been equally spectacular; the XAU price broke back above the $5,000/oz barrier, up 17% in just 48 hours.
Over the same period, gold added $4.74 trillion to its market capitalization, while silver gained $1 trillion. This brings the total growth in the market capitalization of precious metals to nearly $6 trillion in two days.
This rebound reflects strong accumulation by institutional and wealthy investors. Indeed, consistent buying on every dip highlights who is accumulating the precious metal, regardless of rumors.
That said, even amidst high volatility, gold retains its safe-haven status, with an advance of about 66% over one year, while Bitcoin remains down more than 20% over the same period.
This contrast illustrates how, in times of macroeconomic stress, traditional precious metals continue to command a premium in investor portfolios, even surpassing the most prominent digital assets.
Thus, as geopolitical and monetary pressures persist, gold’s newfound volatility is likely to continue attracting attention, offering both risks and opportunities to traders seeking refuge from overall market volatility.
The moral of the story: Those who move bitcoins also move mountains of gold.