Gold Adds Bitcoin’s Entire Market Cap in a Day — Why Is BTC Falling Behind?

Key Takeaways

• Gold surged to new all-time highs above $5,500.
• Bitcoin has dropped sharply below $90,000, erasing 2026 gans.
• Investors favor physical gold for stability while selling crypto during uncertainty, delaying Bitcoin’s hedging narrative.

Gold is on an absolute tear in 2026.

Prices have ripped past $5,500 an ounce, extending an 18%+ year-to-date rally and pushing gains to over 60% since 2025.

In a single day, gold added roughly the equivalent of Bitcoin’s entire market cap , underscoring just how aggressively capital is rotating into traditional safe havens as global uncertainty builds.

Gold Adds Entire Bitcoin Market Cap in a Day

In just 24 hours, gold added roughly $1.75 trillion to its market cap — almost equal to Bitcoin’s entire market value.

After breaching $5,000 per ounce in mid-January, gold surged to a peak of around $5,597 during Asian trading, extending its incredible run.

Over the past five years, gold has outperformed Bitcoin, climbing 173% compared to BTC’s 164%, proving that even “digital gold” can lag behind the real thing.

Sihttps://www.ccn.com/news/crypto/tom-lee-claims-parabolic-gold-and-silver-move-is-masking-bullish-bitcoin-and-ethereum-signals/lver has joined the rally, hitting $120 per ounce for the first time ever, signaling a broader boom in precious metals.

The move hasn’t been without drama. On Jan. 26, both metals suffered a flash crash that erased $1.7 trillion in combined market value — roughly the size of Bitcoin’s market cap — before bouncing back.

Key Catalystsc Behind Gold’s Rise

Gold’s surge to record levels is driven by a mix of macroeconomic, geopolitical, and structural factors that have strengthened its appeal as a safe-haven asset.

Rising global tensions have been a major catalyst.

Key events include:

These developments have fueled fears of trade wars and instability, prompting investors to seek gold as a hedge.

The U.S. dollar’s decline to four-year lows has also played a role, making gold more affordable for international buyers.

Anticipated Fed rate cuts in a low-yield environment reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like gold.

Strong central bank demand amid de-dollarization trends, combined with $2.7 billion in retail and institutional inflows into tokenized gold products, has provided further support.

China and Hong Kong markets have been particularly active buyers.

Bitcoin Is Still Struggling

Bitcoin has long been viewed as digital gold—a long-term hedge and an alternative to traditional safe-haven assets.

But while gold and silver have hit new all-time highs, Bitcoin has remained stuck in the $85,000–$90,000 range over the past three months.

During the same geopolitical events that lifted gold, Bitcoin fell 6.6% while gold rose 8.6%.

This underperformance erased all of Bitcoin’s 2026 gains, leaving it about 30% below its October 2025 peak of $120,000.

The broader cryptocurrency market cap has declined to roughly $3 trillion.

Bitcoin itself fell 6% in 2025, while altcoins excluding Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins dropped 44%.

In uncertain markets, investors often treat Bitcoin as an “ATM,” selling it for quick liquidity.

Its 90-day correlation with U.S. equities remains around 0.51, linking it more closely to tech stocks than to traditional safe havens.

Global liquidity is contracting. Quantitative tightening by the Fed and rate hikes from the Bank of Japan are pressuring high-risk assets like crypto, while gold benefits from defensive capital flows.

Historically, money flows first to low-risk assets such as precious metals, with Bitcoin expected to rebound later as liquidity returns.

fStill, some analysts warn that this “rotation” narrative may be overly optimistic, as many Bitcoin holders are now selling at a loss for the first time since 2023.