Kraken: Bitcoin superior compared to physical commodities like gold

According to the Global Economist of Kraken, over time Bitcoin will gain wider recognition as an alternative and superior store of value compared to other physical commodities like gold. 

These statements also come after this recent period in which the price of gold has reached new all-time highs, while that of BTC has not. 

The records of gold

With the electoral victory of Donald Trump, the price of gold fell, unlike Bitcoin. 

If at the end of October it was above 2,780 dollars per ounce, by mid-November it had fallen to $2,550.

Until the end of December, it then remained around $2,600.

However, with the approach of the inauguration of Trump as President of the United States, it started to rise again, so much so that on the day of his inauguration, January 20, 2025, it had risen to $2,700.

With the inauguration of Trump, a sort of small bull run began, which led it to record new all-time highs, rising for the first time in its history above $2,900.

Note that until 2024 it had never even managed to exceed $2,800, while in February 2025 it reached a peak even above $2,940.

The peak was reached yesterday, with a +7% in less than two weeks. It is very rare for similar mini-bullruns to occur in the price of gold at times when there is no panic in the markets. 

Subsequently, however, it then fell below $2,900, and today it also fell below $2,890.

This rise could be due to the ongoing complications of the global geopolitical situation. 

Kraken: Bitcoin suffers from the competition of gold

The price of Bitcoin instead has been moving sideways since the end of November.

While gold was falling after Trump’s victory, Bitcoin was rising, but when gold stopped falling, the price of BTC stopped rising.

In reality, however, the lateralization of Bitcoin in recent months is not flat, because the fluctuations have taken it up to over $109,000, but also below $90,000, and although this type of fluctuation is absolutely normal regarding the trend of BTC’s price, they have still been able to generate small excesses of positivity or negativity. 

In recent days, the lateralization seems to have settled around the 96,000$ mark, even though there have been two failed attempts to reposition below 95,000$. On the other hand, it hasn’t returned above 100,000$ since last week, a threshold that, to be honest, it has never managed to hold for a long time. 

Bitcoin will surpass gold according to Kraken

The Global Economist of Kraken, Thomas Perfumo, commented on the new all-time high reached yesterday by the price of gold, saying that this signals a strong demand for safe-haven assets in a context of macroeconomic uncertainty. 

However, it also highlights that significant constraints are emerging in the supply on the physical gold market. 

In particular, there are large physical transfers of the precious metal underway that are experiencing delivery delays and logistical inefficiencies. Perfumo even reports that some warehouses are accepting gold only in specific standard units, thus forcing refiners to remelt the gold bars in order to transfer them there.

On the other hand, the constant flows towards Bitcoin ETFs indicate a growing institutional recognition of its role in modern portfolios, and regulators are increasingly discussing Bitcoin as a store of value, strengthening its position alongside traditional assets considered safe havens, like gold.

Perfumo, however, also adds that the performance of the BTC price is not replicating that of gold, but this is due to the fact that the spot prices of the gold market are influenced precisely by some logistical challenges closely related to the physical commodity and not the market. 

According to Kraken’s Global Economist, this would highlight some superior characteristics of Bitcoin compared to gold, such as the fact that it can be consolidated and divided arbitrarily, down to the smallest unit, the satoshi, equal to one hundred millionth of a BTC. Or the fact that it can be transferred almost in real-time, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with confirmations on the blockchain taking on average a few minutes.

For these reasons, according to Perfumo, over time Bitcoin will gain wider recognition as an alternative and superior store of value compared to other physical commodities like gold.