Why Goldman Sachs Expects This Asset Class To Outperform Bitcoin

A research note from Goldman Sachs published on Monday has painted a bull case for gold over the price of bitcoin. The bank’s research note comes at a time when the entirety of the crypto market is facing adversity and the price of bitcoin is down more than 70% from its all-time high price at current levels. According to Goldman Sachs, gold actually presents the opportunity that investors seem to be looking for in bitcoin.

In the research note, Goldman Sachs says it expects gold to perform better than bitcoin in the long run given its already established use cases. For one, gold remains a hedge against inflation and dollar debasement, as well as being a better portfolio diversifier compared to bitcoin.

Additionally, Goldman Sachs explained that gold is not as affected by tighter liquidity as BTC. Since there is more demand for gold, it tends to do better in situations such as these whereas digital assets such as bitcoin tend to succumb to such liquidity crunches. 

The research note also compares bitcoin to a “risk-on high-growth tech company stock.” As well as the digital asset’s value is based on future use cases instead of established use cases like in the case of gold. It explained that since bitcoin is “a solution looking for a problem,” it is more prone to volatility and is a more speculative asset compared to gold.

Bitcoin is often referred to as the ‘digital gold’ due to its performance over the years. It has been utilized as an inflation hedge by many at various stages, but the bull and bear cycles can see BTC fall short as a hedge during times such as these. Add in the collapse of major players in the space and the digital asset has taken massive hits in the past year.

Goldman Sachs points to the recent implosion of the FTX crypto exchange in bitcoin’s recent high volatility, noting such collapses as the cause of the decline. “Bitcoin’s volatility to the downside was also enhanced by systemic concerns as several large players filed for bankruptcy,” the research note said.

Given these, the investment bank believes that gold is set to outperform bitcoin in the long run. “Moreover, gold may benefit from structurally higher macro volatility and a need to diversify equity exposure,” it added.