Gold is in the midst of its longest losing streak in over a century, while bitcoin continues to gain relative strength, lifting the BTC-to-gold ratio by roughly 30% since the Middle East conflict escalated.
The metal has fallen for 10 consecutive sessions—its worst run since February 1920—according to Katie Greifeld. Prices have dropped as much as 27% from January’s all-time high, sliding to around $4,090 before stabilizing at the 200-day moving average, a key technical level often seen as a marker of long-term trend support.
Gold has since recovered about 2% over the past 24 hours, suggesting the sell-off may be nearing exhaustion. Even so, it remains down roughly 12% since tensions in the Middle East intensified in late February.
In contrast, bitcoin—often described as “digital gold”—is holding above $70,000. This has pushed the bitcoin-to-gold ratio to just under 16 ounces, up from around 12 ounces before the conflict, underscoring bitcoin’s outperformance.
Charlie Morris pointed to the broader trend, noting that bitcoin has steadily strengthened against gold since first surpassing one ounce in 2017. The ratio has continued to build higher lows across cycles and now approaches 16 ounces, with room to climb further if gold’s momentum continues to fade.
Historically, gold tends to lead market cycles, often rallying first before consolidating, creating room for bitcoin to catch up and outperform in later stages.
However, Eric Balchunas argues that the relationship between the two assets is not strictly inverse, but largely uncorrelated. He noted that gold-backed funds such as SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and iShares Gold Trust (IAU) have seen billions in outflows over the past week.
By comparison, bitcoin ETFs have attracted around $2.5 billion in inflows this month, with only about $140 million in net outflows year-to-date—even though bitcoin remains roughly 20% lower over that period.
