Bitcoin Could Beat Gold If ETF Hedging Eases, Analyst Predicts Tripled Assets
JPMorgan Chase & Co has made some interesting comments about Bitcoin and gold. According to the bank's analysts, led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, Bitcoin could outperform gold if ETF hedging eases.
The bank points out that gold ETFs have fully recovered all their 2026 outflows while Bitcoin ETFs have only recovered half of theirs. This is due in part to the fact that inflation-adjusted bond yields have risen and the CLARITY Act failed in the Senate, weakening the debasement trade.
Short interest in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ:IBIT) sits near its highest level this year, while short interest in the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSE:GLD) is below its historical average. The put-to-call ratio is also higher for IBIT than GLD, indicating elevated hedging demand around Bitcoin relative to gold.
Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg's senior ETF analyst, predicts that Bitcoin ETFs will eventually triple gold ETFs in total assets, driven by generational wealth transfer and growing institutional comfort as Bitcoin's volatility falls. He notes that big institutional money still prefers gold today due to Bitcoin's higher volatility and its historical tendency to move like the Nasdaq 100.
However, Balchunas believes an inflection point is coming where large institutions treat Bitcoin as a reliable store of value and safe haven. 'Bitcoin is like gold as a teenager,' he said. 'Gold is 5,000 years old. Bitcoin is 17 years old.'