Should you buy Bitcoin or gold? The debate is heating up on Wall Street

Bitcoin's tumble last week, the biggest since March, after a 150% run-up this year underscores the famous volatility of the asset class that has kept mainstream investors at bay

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One of the differences between the two is that all transactions can be viewed on the blockchain, while a large part of gold trade takes place on London’s over-the-counter market, where less data is available. Photo: Bloomberg

Eddie Spence and Yvonne Yue Li | Bloomberg

4 min read Last Updated : Dec 02 2020 | 06:44 AM IST

Bitcoin has shot to a record just as billions of institutional dollars have fled gold.

Whether that’s a simple coincidence or the start of a rotation that would have a profound impact on crypto and the precious-metals market is impossible to know for sure. But the debate is now heating up on whether the world’s largest digital currency can one day rival bullion as an inflation hedge and portfolio diversifier.

Bitcoin’s tumble last week, the biggest since March, after a 150% run-up this year underscores the famous volatility of the asset class that has kept mainstream investors at bay. Yet if they start moving just a small portion of their gold holdings into the $350 billion Bitcoin industry, it would