With its record-breaking run into the stratosphere, gold has emerged as a better safe haven than bitcoin, in the view of market veteran Ed Yardeni. The head of Yardeni Research, in his morning market note Wednesday, asserted that “Gold Is The New Bitcoin” as he compared the performance of both assets at a time when investors remain concerned over geopolitical issues that could thwart the stock market rally . “Bitcoin has been described as ‘digital gold,’ but we would describe gold as ‘physical bitcoin,'” Yardeni wrote. “Risk-off investors may increasingly be concluding that gold is a better protection for geopolitical risks than is bitcoin. The former has been around since the beginning of history and widely viewed as a hedge against risk, while the latter has a short history and has behaved mostly as a risk-on speculative vehicle.” While both have posted strong returns this year, gold has been the leader by far. The yellow metal has popped 60% in 2025 while bitcoin has surged about 20%. @GC.1 BTC.CB= YTD line Gold vs. Bitcoin For perspective, bitcoin has performed about in line with the Nasdaq Composite , the favorite listing place for many of Silicon Valley’s top artificial intelligence darlings. Gold, though, has been in a class by itself. It has been particularly strong over the past month, gaining more than 13% while bitcoin has slipped 3%. Over the past week, gold has rallied nearly 4% while bitcoin has tumbled 9% and the Nasdaq has slipped nearly 1%. Yardeni has set a $4,000 gold price target for 2025, a level it already has easily eclipsed, recently having passed the $4,200 mark. He sees it heading for $5,000 in 2026 and said “it could reach $10,000 by the end of the decade or sooner.” Yardeni attributes bitcoin’s recent slump to liquidity issues, as the cryptocurrency has seen some $19 billion in liquidations in futures and leveraged positions. “Some platforms triggered auto-deleveraging to manage risk, forcing even winning or hedged positions into closure to protect broader exchange balance sheets,” wrote the Yale PhD and former New York Federal Reserve economist. “As prices fell rapidly, market-makers and large players withdrew or scaled back their activity, widening spreads and making it harder for buyers to absorb all the sell orders.” By contrast, gold rallied last Friday when President Donald Trump announced possible 100% tariffs against China. Bitcoin fell. “Investors seeking protection from mounting geopolitical risks have been heading for the hills to mine for gold as well as for silver,” Yardeni added. ( Learn the best 2026 strategies from inside the NYSE with Josh Brown and others at CNBC PRO Live. Tickets and info here . )
