Over the past year, Bitcoin has lost 50% of its value relative to gold, bringing the BTC/gold ratio back to its level at the end of 2023. This sharp drop reflects not a collapse of Bitcoin, but a surge in gold in 2025, supported by central banks and ETFs.
Gold outperforms Bitcoin in 2025 and erases two years of digital dominance
After reaching an all-time high against gold in December 2024, Bitcoin’s price has seen its lead erode.
In the space of a year, the BTC/gold ratio has fallen from 40.77 on December 17, 2024, to 19.87 ounces of gold per Bitcoin today, erasing its gains and returning to December 2023 levels—a 50% drop.
This decline does not reflect a collapse in the price of BTC in dollars, which remains higher than its 2021 peak, but rather gold’s outperformance in 2025.
BTC price vs. gold since 2023
While Bitcoin has consolidated, gold has soared by more than 65% this year, surpassing $4,300 per ounce, driven by buying demand from central banks and gold ETFs, amid a global climate marked by uncertainty and geopolitical tensions surrounding Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
As for Bitcoin, the peak reached in September 2025 was actually a “bull trap,” meaning a market trap where sellers take advantage of FOMO to cash in. This phenomenon is evident in the volumes of spot Bitcoin ETFs, whose total assets under management have fallen from $164 billion to $115 billion since Bitcoin’s peak at $126,000.
This reversal of the BTC/gold ratio shows that gold fully fulfilled its role as a safe-haven asset in 2025, while Bitcoin is still struggling to join it in the category of assets that provide protection against the volatility of risky markets.
Central Banks and ETFs: Drivers of the Gold Rush in 2025
In 2025, central banks were the leading global buyers of gold. Over the first 10 months of the year, their net purchases exceeded 254 tons, confirming their long-term strategy of reallocating reserves toward gold, which is still viewed as the ultimate safe-haven asset.
The National Bank of Poland stood out at the top of the rankings, adding 83 tons to its official reserves. These moves illustrate a clear strategic intent: to strengthen the resilience of its monetary system in the face of growing geopolitical instability, particularly in a context that could weaken the euro and other European currencies.
At the same time, gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw significant inflows. In 2025, these funds attracted $77 billion in net inflows, bringing their total reserves to a record high of 3,932 tons of gold held.
By comparison, spot Bitcoin ETFs also saw significant activity. Despite a period of price consolidation for BTC in the second half of the year, more than $23 billion in net inflows were injected into these funds, increasing the value of Bitcoin under management from $35.2 billion to $52 billion—a 47% increase over the year.
