Gold Surges as Bitcoin Hesitates: Why Some See the “Real Move” Ahead

While gold breaks records and nears $5,000 an ounce, a part of the Bitcoin camp keeps hammering the same idea. The BTC market hasn’t really started yet.

Gold captures attention, and it’s no coincidence

Friday, January 23, 2026, gold made history again. Its levels fluctuate around $4,950–4,970 an ounce, after a new intraday high. It’s no longer just a trend, it’s momentum.

The fuel is known, but it remains powerful. A weaker dollar makes gold more “affordable” for many non-American buyers. Rate cut expectations also play a role because gold yields no interest. When real yield drops, gold breathes easier.

Big players no longer pretend to hesitate. Goldman Sachs raised its year-end 2026 target. It emphasized demand via ETFs and central bank purchases. When this type of talk becomes commonplace, the market takes on an air of “new normal.”

The match is not only financial. It’s almost cultural. Gold embodies preservation and a heritage reflex. Bitcoin embodies portability and verifiability, but carries volatility that still scares. The two can coexist without copying each other.

We must also beware of too clear conclusions. In 2025, some market readings showed that gold could outperform while Bitcoin stalled, without meaning a lasting flight out of crypto. Capital doesn’t always exit with fanfare. Sometimes, it just changes rhythm.

Bitcoin vs gold: a delay or a tempo change?

Beside it, Bitcoin seems to walk in sand. It hovers around $89,000–90,000 just as gold accelerates. For an asset that has accustomed the public to spectacular candles, it’s almost frustrating.

The sharpest comparison isn’t in dollars. It’s in ounces of gold. In this “BTC/gold ratio,” Bitcoin has slipped to levels near two-year lows. For skeptics, that’s a verdict.

For the convinced, it’s more a calendar issue than a nature issue. Gold often takes the elevator first when fear returns, then Bitcoin follows when the market starts to like risk again.

There’s a flow logic, very human. In stressful times, money first goes where it already knows to go. Gold has this rare talent: it reassures even those who don’t want to learn anything new. You just buy, then forget.

Then rotation can happen. Not because gold “disappoints.” Rather because some investors want a more asymmetric asset. Bitcoin offers this profile: programmed scarcity and a market capable of accelerating suddenly. Sometimes a quality. Sometimes a flaw.

This bet also rests on a detail often hidden in debates. Gold reacts very well to doubt. Bitcoin often reacts to liquidity. When risk appetite returns, BTC can catch up in weeks what other assets have built more slowly.