Gold nears $5,000 milestone as bitcoin trails and critics take aim

Gold and silver continue their rally, while bitcoin remains largely stuck, raising questions about whether BTC’s adoption narrative is losing momentum.

Gold rose 1.7% on Thursday to $4,930 per ounce, and silver jumped 3.7% to $96. Bitcoin, in contrast, slid toward $89,000, roughly 30% below its early October all-time high.

Bianco Research founder Jim Bianco expressed skepticism over bitcoin’s recent price action. “The adoption announcements are not working anymore,” he wrote on X. “We need a new theme, and that’s not evident yet.”

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas urged a longer-term perspective, noting that bitcoin is consolidating after surging from below $16,000 in the 2022 crypto winter to a peak of $126,000 in October. “It went up roughly 300% in the 20 months prior,” Balchunas said. “What do you want — 200% annual gains with no breaks?”

Balchunas added that profit-taking by early holders, which he described as a “silent IPO,” has likely contributed to BTC’s slowdown. One investor, he noted, sold over $9 billion in bitcoin in July after holding the asset for more than a decade.

Bianco countered that bitcoin has fallen behind a wide range of assets since President Donald Trump’s November 2024 election victory. Over the past 14 months, he said, bitcoin is down 2.6%, while silver has climbed 205%, gold 83%, the Nasdaq 24% and the S&P 500 17.6%. “And while we wait for that new theme, everything else is racing ahead as BTC stays stuck in the mud,” he added.

Balchunas highlighted that as recently as November 2024, bitcoin had risen 122% year-over-year, outperforming gold. The recent surge in precious metals, he said, represents a period of catch-up rather than a fundamental shift in long-term market leadership.