The gap between how investors feel about gold and Bitcoin has rarely been this wide. Gold’s Fear and Greed Index scored 72 out of 100, deep in greed territory, while the corresponding index for the top cryptocurrency scored 18 out of 100, a level that would classify it as extreme fear.
For macroeconomist Lyn Alden, the gap tells a remarkable story.
Betting Against Bitcoin for the Next 2-3 Years
On this week’s New Era Finance podcast, Alden said that if he had to choose between two assets going forward, he would choose Bitcoin.
“I think if I had to say which performs better, I would say Bitcoin,” she said.
Gold has risen hard. Bitcoin has fallen a lot. She sees the pendulum swinging between the two, and it is currently swinging in favor of gold. She argued that this presents a potential twist.
Gold prices hit a record high of about $5,608 per ounce in January. Bitcoin, by contrast, remains about 44% below the high of $126,000 it reached last October.
Differences in price performance reflect differences in investor sentiment. Alden acknowledged gold’s rise but stopped short of calling it a bubble.
The mood surrounding Bitcoin is “rather euphoric,” she said. Meanwhile, the mood surrounding Bitcoin has become what she describes as unfairly negative.
She was careful not to exaggerate. Both assets can rise simultaneously. Both can fall. She does not treat the relationship between them as fixed or reliably predictable. But when I pressed to make a call, she did.
BTCUSD trading at $70,274 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView
Gold’s Strength Could Be Bitcoin’s Opportunity
Behind Alden’s remarks is a broader debate about which assets qualify as reliable stores of value.
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio is firmly on the side of gold. In a public speech this week, Dalio described gold as the most established form of money and pointed out that it is the second-largest reserve asset held by central banks around the world.
Image: OSL
He raised concerns about Bitcoin’s limitations on privacy and its vulnerability to advances in quantum computing. These technological threats are still years away, but are gaining increasing attention as construction of large-scale quantum facilities begins.
I think Bitcoin could reach $1 million by 2030, depending on the current situation and progress.
Think long term. pic.twitter.com/6MKqrjojAP
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) September 24, 2025
Dalio’s positions and Alden’s positions are not completely contradictory. Neither side completely ignored the asset. The question is which one performs better over a defined period of time, not which one will survive in the long run.
Related Read: ECB Says Stablecoins Bring New Risks to Eurozone Lending
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong predicted Bitcoin would reach $1 million by 2030, citing cleaner regulatory conditions emerging in the U.S., which he said was a signal for the rest of the G20.
(Featured image from Bitwise, chart from TradingView)
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