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Bitcoin advocates call it "gold 2.0" due to its scarcity feature.
But gold traditionalists have rejected such claims.
However, recent trends suggest a role reversal.
While gold has been hailed as a store of value for decades, Bitcoin (BTC) believers argue even the cryptocurrency is one similar asset and often dub it "gold 2.0."
Similar to gold, Bitcoin is scarce and has a limited supply of 21 million coins. Bitcoiners argue it offers a hedge against inflation and dollar debasement just like gold.
Related: Cathie Wood sends blunt message on 1971 gold standard reset
But traditionalists have dismissed Bitcoin's "gold 2.0" narrative, and they couldn't be dismissed because while Bitcoin fell more than 25% from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28 this year, gold rose more than 20% during the same period.
But the trend reversed after the war between the U.S.-Israel and Iran began on Feb. 28. Since then, gold's price has dropped more than 15% to $4,407.37 per ounce, but Bitcoin's price has risen around 10% to $69,350.73 at press time.
This is exactly what senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas recently highlighted on a show.
On March 23, he appeared on the "Bloomberg ETF IQ" show and said a lot of people were dumping on Bitcoin 2-3 months for not acting like a safe haven store of value, in contrast to gold.
"Well, the roles have been reversed."
Issued by State Street Investment Management, SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) is a top exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the price of one-tenth of a troy ounce of gold.
The fund is one of the largest gold holders in the world. But it saw an outflow of $2.20 billion last week (March 16-20).
Though ETFs linked to Bitcoin are much smaller in value, the total net inflow last week remained positive at $95 million.
On March 24, Balchunas wrote on X that Bitcoin ETFs have seen a total net inflow of $2.5 billion this month and could soon dig out of its "flow hole" this year. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (Nasdaq: IBIT) is already among the top 2% ETFs in YTD flows, he highlighted.
When gold fell 40% around 10 years ago, one-third of the investors retreated and this is normal, but Bitcoin flow is just "abnormal" amid the 40% drop in six months, Balchunas concluded.
