Gold and silver hit record highs, but still trail Bitcoin’s multi-year returns

Despite its recent stall in price compared to the growth of gold and silver, Bitcoin remains ahead of both precious metals by 331% combined. 

Gold and silver are currently experiencing record highs above $5,100 and $110. Despite this and Bitcoin’s current price consolidation, neither metal has surpassed the coin’s growth rate.  

BTC remains ahead of gold and silver despite their record highs

While gold is now trading above $5,350 per ounce and silver has breached the $110 mark, BTC spent much of January consolidating between $87,000 and $93,000, raising concerns from investors. 

Bloomberg’s Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas referred to this phenomenon on the social media platform X as Bitcoin being in a “coma.” 

Despite this coma, since late 2022, just before the wave of spot Bitcoin ETF filings, BTC has climbed 429%. During the same period, gold rose 177% and silver increased 350%. Even the tech-heavy QQQ index, which gained 140%, trails far behind Bitcoin. 

Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas pointed out that Bitcoin “spanked” everything so severely during 2023 and 2024 that even with gold and silver having their “greatest year ever” in 2025, they are yet to catch up to Bitcoin’s total return profile.

“IMO what happened was the ‘institutionalization’ narrative got priced in very quickly and ahead of it all actually happening. So it had to take a breather so the actual narrative could catch up to the price. Feel better now? You’re welcome.” Balchunas wrote. 

In mid-January 2026, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a massive $1.73 billion in weekly outflows, the largest since late 2025. This sell-off was due to an increase in investments into precious metals. Gold recently hit an intraday high of $5,111, and silver is rising even more dynamically, pushing the gold-to-silver ratio to its lowest point in 15 years. 

What is the new narrative driving the next phase of the crypto market?

On January 3, 2026, the U.S. national debt officially surpassed $38.5 trillion. Government data shows that the debt is growing by approximately $6 billion every single day, or $2.2 trillion per year.

This rapid accumulation of debt has caused both Bitcoin and precious metals to be used as protection against this debasement. While BTC has pulled back from its October 2025 peak of $126,000, advocates argue that its fixed supply of 21 million makes it the ultimate defense against a fiat system that “prints relentlessly.”

Cryptopolitan reported earlier today that Arthur Hayes, co-founder of the BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange, thinks trouble with Japan’s currency could ultimately lead to a significant increase in Bitcoin prices. According to the Maelstrom executive, problems with the yen and declining prices on Japanese government debt indicate serious financial weakness that could prompt US intervention that would ultimately benefit Bitcoin.

The Trump administration and its Council of Advisors for Digital Assets are currently pushing for the passage of new market structure bills, such as the GENIUS Act, in order to create a safer and cheaper environment for everyday investors to allocate funds to digital assets. 

At the state level, lawmakers in South Dakota recently revived a bill to establish a state-level Bitcoin reserve. 

Roughly 60% of top U.S. banks are now reportedly preparing to offer BTC services. Analysts from Bank of America and Goldman Sachs suggest that while gold could reach $6,000 by the spring of 2026, Bitcoin’s “base case” for the year remains between $130,000 and $160,000 if ETF inflows stabilize.

Want your project in front of crypto’s top minds? Feature it in our next industry report, where data meets impact.