Gold has surged more than 55% in 2025 and has become the year’s strongest major asset, while Bitcoin has turned into the worst performer with gains now reduced to roughly 1% before slipping negative. Bitcoin has dropped below $93,000 and is down over 26% since its October peak of $126,000. The selloff has erased nearly $600 billion in market value from its recent highs. Total crypto liquidations in the past 24 hours have crossed $500 million. Market sentiment has flipped sharply as conviction thins out.
Bitcoin, which entered the year with expectations of proving its mainstream maturity, is instead posting its weakest relative performance on record against gold, marking a reversal of the 2013 dynamic when Bitcoin was the standout winner.
Gold stands out as 2025’s clear superstar asset class, delivering a stellar +55.2% annual return while Bitcoin not only drops to the worst performer (-1.2%) but makes market history by holding that bottom spot for the first time since the inception of this dataset (2011). This dramatic reversal underscores a powerful narrative shift in financial markets for 2025—where traditionally uncorrelated assets converged in surprising ways, rewriting the usual risk-reward playbook.
Gold’s Breakout Year
Gold (GLD) posted the highest return among tracked asset classes in 2025, up +55.2%. This marks a rare and outsized win for a defensive, non-yielding safe haven, outperforming all major equity indices, bond sectors, and alternative assets. Historically, gold has acted as a hedge against inflation, market turmoil, and currency debasement, and in 2025, global macro uncertainty helped it shine.
