Key Points
Spot gold prices have reached a record high, leading to renewed criticism from opponents of Bitcoin. Despite this criticism, Bitcoin has experienced significant gains, surpassing gold by five times.
Gold prices peaked at $2,304 per ounce on April 3, showing an 11.5% increase since the beginning of the year, as reported by the American Hartford Gold Group.
Gold’s Performance and Bitcoin’s Criticism
Gold began to rise in mid-February, going from around $2,000 per ounce to over $2,200 by the end of March. Factors contributing to this increase include escalating global tensions, potential interest rate reductions, and de-dollarization, according to investment strategist Nanette Abuhoff Jacobson of Hartford Funds.
Despite Bitcoin being labeled as "digital gold," the surge in actual gold prices has provoked fresh mockery from gold enthusiasts and critics of Bitcoin.
Critics, such as Peter Schiff, a proponent of gold and a Bitcoin skeptic, claimed that Bitcoin was down 7% in the second quarter of 2024, while silver and gold showed an increase of 8.7% and 3.4% respectively. However, it is important to note that Bitcoin has surged by 55% this year, outperforming gold by a factor of five.
Gold’s Environmental Impact
In a separate post, Schiff suggested that now might be the "last opportunity to trade your Bitcoin for gold and silver at attractive prices." The cryptocurrency community swiftly responded to this comment.
Analyst and researcher Charlie Morris criticized Bitcoin as well, highlighting that gold had reached a record high "without electricity usage," in reference to Bitcoin's energy-intensive mining process.
In contrast, Daniel Batten, a Bitcoin ESG researcher, pointed out that gold extraction heavily relies on fossil fuels and has a more significant environmental impact compared to Bitcoin mining. He noted that Bitcoin mining does not contaminate the nearby land and water supply with mercury or arsenic, unlike gold mining operations.
While the top 14 gold-tracking exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced losses of $2.4 billion from the beginning of the year until mid-February, spot Bitcoin funds saw an inflow of $3.89 billion over the same period.
Kieran Warwick, the creator of Illuvium, recently participated in a magazine interview answering six questions about his company.
