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Bitcoin Can Overtake Gold, Says Matrixport Research Head

Dhirendra Chandra Das

Markus Thielen, Head of Research at Matrixport thinks that is is just a matter of time before Bitcoin overtakes the market cap of Gold. This seems possible due to a number of advantages that comes with BTC which are absent in Gold.

Though BTC has been long dubbed as the digital gold, the current scenario, as per a Matrixport report highlights why the conditions for Bitcoin overtaking Gold is ripe now.

Further, history suggests that an impending bull run could be on the cards as US rate hikes come to a pause.

Matrixport Report Says Bitcoin Gaining Ground

In a weekly report by Matrixport, Markus and team evaluate how Bitcoin can overtake Gold in the coming years, especially in the near future when there are high chances of a recession in the USA and the already existence of a recession in the Europe.

The report highlights that there have been historical similarities between Gold and BTC, both of which have been used as a hedge against recession in the past. Investors have always chosen Gold as a hedge against recession in the past. Bitcoin has also been considered digital gold because of its ability to outperform other asset classes during bad times.

The Matrixport report also highlights that at $540 billion, BTC is already near 11% of Gold's market cap despite being in existence for less than 15 years compared to Gold's nearly 6500 years. Matrixport and its Head of Research Markus Thielen estimate that after the approval of Bitcoin ETFs, which are very much possible in the near future.

From the angle of National Debt in the USA, the report by Matrixport says that when debt to GDP ratio surpasses 70%, the burden of debt in the US economy prioritizes debt servicing over new investments. Such a situation creates a decline in investments and a scenario necessitating capital preservation. In such scenarios, BTC and Gold emerge as assets that provide a safe haven against inflation.

The last time when the US Federal Reserve, paused its rate hikes for seven months, Bitcoin had a monster rally of +325% from $4k to $12.5k.

Bitcoin Rally after Rate Hikes Paused in 2019

Preference Bitcoin Over Gold

Gold as an asset class has thrived for over 6.5k years, due to its universal acceptability, fungibility, and limited existence. However, it also carries a lot of burdens such as risk of being looted, physical transportation, and reliance on third party labs for quality assurance.

However, BTC has none of these burdens despite having all the qualities of Gold.

  1. Bitcoin's private keys are stored by the end user and not by a third party making each user responsible for their own security. There are also pools and exchanges that store a user's Bitcoin for free.
  2. BTC does not require physical storage and is therefore free from several aspects which make Gold vulnerable.
  3. Like Gold, BTC too has a limited existence. But the benefit is that it is a lot more fungible, i.e., divisible than Gold. Therefore, users can hold as small as a Satoshi (1 Bitcoin = 100 Million Satoshi).
  4. In the last 14 years, BTC has outperformed Gold by a huge margin.
BTC (upper line) vs Gold (lower line) Since 2009

What do experts say?

Several experts are of the view that BTC is better than Gold and each one of them have their own reason to justify their support.

  • deVere Group CEO Nigel Green stated that amid a banking crisis in the USA, Bitcoin is being favored by a lot of investors.
  • Billionaire and Shark Tank judge Mark Cuban says he prefers BTC over Gold and has been accumulating Bitcoin himself.
  • Anthony Pompliano of Morgan Creek Digital Assets also prefers Bitcoin over Gold as he assumes Bitcoin would topple Gold's market cap by 2030.

Conclusion

Bitcoin provides several improvements over Gold, yet, it lies severely unregulated, which hinders its growth. Despite all it has managed to reach 11% of Gold's market cap which signals its capacity to grow more once the situation improves.

Disclaimer: Voice of Crypto aims to deliver accurate and up-to-date information, but it will not be responsible for any missing facts or inaccurate information. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile financial assets, so research and make your own financial decisions.