Ang Label nga 'Digital Gold' sa Bitcoin Naghulagway sa Scarcity, Dili sa Price Correlation

Bitcoin's 'digital gold' label describes the asset's fundamental properties, not a guarantee it will trade in lockstep with gold prices. That's the core argument from Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, who pushed back against critics claiming Bitcoin failed its digital gold thesis.

Thorn pointed to a 2010 Bitcointalk post from Satoshi Nakamoto to make his case. Nakamoto described a hypothetical scarce metal with one unique property: the ability to be transported over a communications channel. That's the essence of digital gold — scarcity combined with global transferability.

The narrative faced pressure after September 2025, when Bitcoin failed to mirror gold's performance during what traders called 'the debasement trade.' But Thorn said nothing about Bitcoin's fundamentals changed during that period. The asset's 21 million supply cap, its divisibility, and its self-custody features remain intact.

Institutional money told a different story in early 2025. The SPDR Gold Trust pulled in ₱3.76 trillion ($65 billion) in net inflows from the beginning of the year through May 6, while the iShares Bitcoin Trust attracted just ₱405.22 billion ($7 billion) during the same period. That 9-to-1 gap shows investors still view gold as the primary safe-haven asset when uncertainty hits.

Thorn argued the real investment opportunity lies in the spread between Bitcoin's fundamental gold-like properties and the market's current willingness to price it alongside gold. If that gap narrows over time, early Bitcoin holders capture the upside. Academic research complicates this pitch — studies from 2015 and 2018 found Bitcoin's volatility far exceeds gold's, undermining its store-of-value credentials.

Dan Tapiero, founder of 10T Holdings, replied 'Well said' to Thorn's post and noted the fear around Bitcoin reminded him of earlier market cycles when volatility exceeded 100% annually.