Bitcoin Falls Short as Safe-Haven Asset, Economist Claims

Bitcoin's status as a safe-haven asset has been challenged by Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Brooks argues that Bitcoin's performance during the 'debasement trade' shows it does not behave like digital gold.

In this period, Brooks claims that Bitcoin consistently underperformed precious metals, undermining its argument as a reliable hedge against currency debasement.

Brooks has been a longtime critic of Bitcoin, previously describing it as a 'bubble asset' and 'pointless asset'. He argues that its price movements are largely driven by changing expectations for Federal Reserve policy.

However, Bitwise head of alpha strategies Jeff Park pushed back on Brooks' view, citing historical data to show that Bitcoin has rallied during both bull and bear yield-curve steepening episodes.