Bitcoin stays muted as gold climbs to new highs above $5,400 after Fed signals.

Gold surged on Wednesday as investors flocked to the precious metal following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks. The yellow metal jumped 6% to top $5,400 per ounce, continuing its robust bull run.

Silver and platinum recorded even larger gains, but gold—with an estimated market capitalization of around $40 trillion—remained the headline performer.

Much of the rally followed Powell’s press conference after the Fed held its benchmark federal funds rate at 3.50%–3.75%. When asked about the rapid ascent in gold and silver prices, Powell urged caution against reading too much into the move. “Don’t take too much message into [that] macroeconomically,” he said, adding that the Fed’s credibility remains intact.

Bitcoin lags

Bitcoin (BTC $82,740.49) remained largely range-bound, dipping slightly after the Fed decision and trading near $89,000, essentially flat over 24 hours. Other major cryptocurrencies showed similarly muted activity.

Digital gold in question

The divergence between gold and bitcoin has raised questions about BTC’s “digital gold” status. Despite macro tailwinds—such as a weaker dollar and rising geopolitical risks—bitcoin has underperformed, while gold has gained over 90% in the past year.

“We’re clearly in a market regime where crypto is underperforming the very assets it was meant to rival,” said James Harris, CEO of crypto yield platform Tesseract Group. “Gold is reclaiming market share from bitcoin amid repricing of geopolitical and fiscal risks.”