Gold has surged to a historic high of $4,525, reaffirming its status as a safe-haven asset at a time of mounting global uncertainty, while Bitcoin continues to struggle to regain bullish momentum.
The divergence between the two assets has reignited the long-running debate over Bitcoin’s role as “digital gold,” with longtime crypto critic Peter Schiff seizing the moment to declare that the Bitcoin bull run is over.
As investors reassess risk amid tightening financial conditions and volatile markets, Schiff argues that capital is flowing back to traditional stores of value leaving Bitcoin lagging behind in gold’s shadow.
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He argues that Bitcoin’s failure to rise alongside surging tech stocks (S&P 500 up 0.5% to a record) and gold (hitting $4,525 per ounce) indicates the end of its bull run, forecasting a crash as all buyers are exhausted.
In a post on X, he wrote,
“If Bitcoin won’t go up when tech stocks rise, and it won’t go up when gold and silver rise, when will it go up? The answer is: it won’t. The Bitcoin trade is over. The suckers are all in. If Bitcoin won’t go up, it can only go down. If HODLers are lucky it won’t be a slow death.”
The post reflects Schiff’s consistent bearishness on Bitcoin since 2010, with recent December 2025 tweets predicting its collapse before a dollar crisis, despite BTC trading near $87,000 after peaking at $93,000 earlier in the month.
Schiff argues that Bitcoin remains tied to risk assets like stocks, rallying less during upswings and falling harder in downturns, dismissing it as “digital gold” since it won’t track gold’s rises.
Meanwhile, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao “CZ”, in a response under the post, mocked Schiff’s prediction that Bitcoin’s bull run is over, urging followers to “save the tweet” as a future reminder of his repeated forecasting errors on BTC’s demise.
It is understood that Schiff has issued similar Bitcoin bearish calls for over a decade, including a 2019 claim that BTC would “never” reach $100,000, which it surpassed in 2021 and a 2018 warning that even $750 per BTC would remain “expensive.”
In line with Schiff’s prediction of the end of Bitcoin bull run, Fidelity’s global macro director, Jurien Timmer, has called the end of the latest bitcoin bull run, while highlighting gold’s continued bull market strength.
The October all-time high near $125,000, reached after roughly 145 months of cumulative rallying, fits well within the framework. Bitcoin bear markets, often referred to as winters, typically last about a year, Timmer says. As a result, he sees 2026 as a potential “year off” for bitcoin following the conclusion of the latest halving driven cycle.
“While I remain a secular bull on bitcoin, my concern is that bitcoin may well have ended another four year cycle halving phase, both in price and time,” Timmer wrote on X.
Timmer also highlights gold’s strong performance in 2025, contrasting it with bitcoin’s negative year, and does not expect a near term mean reversion between the two assets.
Gold is firmly in a bull market, up roughly 65% year to date, outperforming global money supply growth, Timmer noted. He adds that during the recent correction, gold has held onto most of its gains, which he views as characteristic behavior of a bull market.
Notably, in a counter statement, Jamie Coutts, Chief Crypto Analyst at Realvision, believes the Bitcoin bull market isn’t over yet despite substantial falls. Coutts told the Tapping Into Crypto podcast that the weakness in crypto is due to macro conditions creating a risk-off environment but he believes Trump is likely to “goose” the US economy before next year’s midterm election creating better conditions for crypto.
Coutts also said crypto is now at a “major inflection point” where institutional adoption will see the importance of the four-year cycle decline.
The flagship crypto aseet price slipped today below $87,000, falling nearly 1%, as multiple pressures hit the market at the same time. After weeks of moving sideways between $85,000 and $90,000, Bitcoin is struggling to find strong support, leaving traders cautious. BTC is currently trading at $87,183 at the time of writing this report.
Outlook
The contrasting performances of gold and Bitcoin in 2025 underscore a broader market shift. Gold’s record highs suggest continued investor preference for stability amid global uncertainty, while Bitcoin faces headwinds from macroeconomic factors and profit-taking pressures.
Analysts remain divided as some foresee a near-term consolidation or bear phase for Bitcoin, while others anticipate that institutional adoption and policy-driven economic growth could reignite bullish momentum.