Bitcoin Isn't Always Digital Gold, Says Bitwise Exec

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan says Bitcoin doesn't behave like gold all the time, but it does in certain regimes. He notes that from October to June, the dominant driver of Bitcoin's price was the crypto deleveraging cycle, not macro forces.

Hougan argues that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's interventions in the bond market have pushed macro factors back to the forefront, causing Bitcoin's correlation with gold to hit its highest level in years.

'When you need it to act as a deep debasement hedge, Bitcoin in fact does that,' Hougan said. 'It is in fact digital gold, but it's not exactly gold.'

Hougan and Proficio founder Bob Haber argue that the traditional 60/40 portfolio allocates too much to fiat-denominated investments, leaving investors without a hedge against currency debasement.