Gold is posting its longest losing streak in over a century, while bitcoin is gaining relative strength, pushing the BTC-to-gold ratio roughly 30% higher since the Middle East conflict escalated.
The metal has fallen for 10 straight sessions—its worst run since February 1920—according to Katie Greifeld. Prices have dropped as much as 27% from January’s all-time high, sliding to around $4,090 before finding support at the 200-day moving average, a widely followed indicator of longer-term trend direction.
Gold has since rebounded about 2% over the past 24 hours, suggesting the sell-off may be nearing an end. Even so, it remains down roughly 12% since tensions in the Middle East intensified in late February.
Meanwhile, bitcoin—often dubbed “digital gold”—is holding above $70,000. This has lifted the bitcoin-to-gold ratio to just under 16 ounces, up from around 12 ounces before the conflict, highlighting bitcoin’s outperformance.
Charlie Morris noted that bitcoin has steadily strengthened against gold since first surpassing one ounce in 2017. The ratio has continued to build higher lows across cycles and now approaches 16 ounces, with potential to climb further if gold’s momentum continues to fade.
Historically, gold tends to lead market cycles, often rallying first before consolidating, allowing bitcoin to catch up and outperform in later phases.
However, Eric Balchunas argues that the relationship between the two assets is not strictly inverse but largely uncorrelated. He pointed out that gold-backed funds such as SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and iShares Gold Trust (IAU) have seen billions in outflows over the past week.
By contrast, bitcoin ETFs have attracted around $2.5 billion in inflows this month, with only about $140 million in net outflows year-to-date—even as bitcoin remains roughly 20% lower over that period.
