Battle of the Assets: Should You Invest in Gold or Bitcoin?

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Dominic Frisby, author of the Flying Frisby newsletter, joined "a very sensible panel" at Freedomfest 2025 with "grown-up people saying intelligent things in a gold versus Bitcoin debate." Streetwise Reports liked it so much that we have decided to summarize it for our readers. You can view the unabridged video here.

The panel also included Ethan Peck, senior manager, commissions finance and strategy at Confluent; Adam Trexler, a pioneer in physical gold currency; and Wolf von Laer, chief executive officer of Students for Liberty. The group was led in its discussion by journalist, podcaster, public speaker, and marketing expert Efrat Fenigson.

Peck presented a compelling argument for Bitcoin's digital scarcity, Trexler defended gold's timeless value as a store of wealth, and von Laer advocated for Bitcoin from a libertarian standpoint as a sovereign, decentralized countermeasure against governmental overreach.

As for myself, I argued that one should consider holding both Bitcoin and gold. We delved into familiar topics such as inflation, central bank activities, the convenience of digital currency, the history of money, and the broader implications of these issues.

Experts: Don't Overlook Bitcoin

Amid tariff uncertainties, investors are gravitating towards safe havens like gold, considered the most secure, reported Dominic Basulto for The Motley Fool in April.

But Bitcoin shouldn't be overlooked, he wrote. The narrative of "digital gold" is resurging, and Bitcoin recently surged past US$100,000 per Bitcoin. It was US$18,064.70 at the time of writing.

In September 2024, BlackRock (BLK 0.62%) released a report titled "Bitcoin: A Unique Diversifier," exploring Bitcoin's distinct diversification attributes as a scarce, decentralized, non-sovereign, global asset, according to Basulto. BlackRock concluded that Bitcoin doesn't align with traditional "risk on" and "risk off" asset categories.

Bitcoin carries risks as a relatively new technology with an uncertain regulatory future and is known for its high volatility. Yet, Bitcoin shares several characteristics with traditional safe haven assets like gold. Most notably, Bitcoin has historically shown no correlation with major asset classes, potentially serving as a hedge against declining stock prices. As a global asset beyond the control of any government or central bank, Bitcoin's economic ties are not limited to any single country.

Gold prices have been hovering around US$3,300 per ounce. Following a robust rally that saw prices rise from US$2,700 in January to US$3,400 in April, even a slight push could propel gold to new heights, reported Sharon Wu for CBS News on July 21.

However, since that April peak, the precious metal has remained confined within a narrow range, leaving investors anxious as the crucial resistance level remains elusive. Although gold continues to receive support from inflation worries and global tensions, she noted the recent consolidation hints that momentum may be waning. So, will gold finally break through this vital barrier, or are investors facing more sideways movement?

"I don't foresee gold prices reaching US$3,500 until either [Jerome] Powell is replaced or the Fed lowers interest rates," Ben Nadelstein, head of content at the gold yield marketplace Monetary Metals, told Wu.

Since neither scenario appears likely this month, he said he anticipates that gold will remain below US$3,500. Not everyone agrees, however. Brett Elliott, marketing director at American Precious Metals Exchange (APMEX), highlights that gold can make unexpected moves, Wu wrote. 

But despite the focus on gold's strong performance in 2025, it's crucial not to overlook Bitcoin's remarkable track record over the past decade, Basulto wrote for The Motley Fool. In seven out of the last 10 years, Bitcoin has topped the charts as the best-performing asset class globally.

Bitcoin reached a turning point around "Liberation Day" on April 2, after which it began to climb. With ongoing global trade tensions and domestic debates over interest rates, this upward trend may intensify. If history is any guide, Bitcoin could be the key asset to hold during economic and geopolitical instability, often outperforming gold against the odds.

'Perfect Money'

Fenigson began the discussion by saying Americans hold more Bitcoin than gold: 50 million hold Bitcoin versus 36.7 million for gold.

"That's a very surprising fact," she said. "Gold bugs normally think that Bitcoin is a scam, and Bitcoiners think that gold is a pet rock. But the truth might be more interesting than that . . . Bitcoin and gold are often seen as hedges against inflation, but they operate in very different ways."

She asked all of the panelists which of the vehicles "better serves as a store of value … in the current economic climate?"

Peck answered Bitcoin, because of it was "engineered to be perfect money."

"It's more scarce than gold," he said. "It has a fixed supply cap of 21 million coins. With gold, we don't actually truly know how much gold there is in the world."

He also noted it has been engineered for the current economy. "It could be exchanged from me to you easily and quickly and cheaply across borders at any time.

"That makes it ideal for our current day and age," Peck said.

Frisby: Both Are 'Critical Monetary Technologies'

Taking the same question, Frisby noted he tells his readers to invest in both.

"If you're asking me which I think I'm going to make more money within the coming years, my gold or my Bitcoin, I think the answer is pretty clearly Bitcoin," Frisby said. "It's on a growth trajectory. It's on an adoption trajectory. But that's not to knock gold."

Gold suits some investors better and Bitcoin suits other investors better, he said.

"But I think when you're talking about the two, it's important to remember to distinguish in your mind that one is a physical asset," Frisby said. "Gold is old. You can't destroy gold."

He continued, "Physical assets have one purpose, and digital assets have another. Own both, but you'll make more money with your Bitcoin."

Von Laer encouraged told the audience that if they "give the folks here advocating for Bitcoin only a 1% chance that they might be right, then I think after this conversation, you want to go home and study this asset more because it's truly transformational, in my opinion."

Trexler also said he supported both assets. "I think that the question is broken," he said. "The reason I think that is I have made a check this week, I've paid with cash this week, and I've sent a money wire this week. I've used Venmo this week . . . These are two critical monetary technologies for very different purposes."

He also said people should have the right to send money without a bank intermediary.

"I just talked to a gold dealer yesterday who tried to send a client US$5 million and the bank stopped it. Think about that. Totally legal transaction. That's the value of Bitcoin."

The value of gold is for saving, Trexler said. "At no point in 2,500 years has gold not been valuable. And it's only grown more valuable."

Both Have Roles in New Financial System

Fenigson asked Frisby what he thought gold and Bitcoin's roles were in the changing financial system over the next decade.

"We have an instinct for gold, for the beauty of the gold," he acknowledged. "We're attracted by its shine. So, there's a famous quote: the oldest commercial instinct of the human race is for gold. And so that's not going to change."

However, America's "embracing of Bitcoin is one of the few things that could actually save it and save the dollar," he said.

"I sent a transaction of one sat (satoshi, a subunit of Bitcoin) the other day as a test, one sat. That would be 1/20th of" a British penny, he said. "I think it's incredible that you can send a payment that small, and obviously, you can send a payment of billions of dollars without anyone's permission. It's an incredibly profound and exciting technology."

She asked Peck about Bitcoin's volatility. "If you're going to hold Bitcoin for 40 years, why do you care if it has a 30% drawdown over a couple of months? It doesn't matter. Bitcoin is the ultimate correction to time preferences. It reorients our fast-paced, immediate gratification world towards thinking of the long term."

She asked von Laer how the two compare from a libertarian perspective in terms "promoting individual sovereignty and protecting against government overreach in the monetary policy?"

"First, I would say we all have to realize that whatever we're doing with our money, if it's cash, it's gold, it's Bitcoin, we're taking a risk," he noted. "The risk with the dollar being right now we have US$37 trillion of debt and US$120 trillion of dollars in unfunded liabilities."

"There's much more security involved" with Bitcoin, von Laer said. "You can basically think about Bitcoin as gold, but with a brain and Wi-Fi."

Trexler was asked what could be done to make gold more usable for everyday transactions.

He said because of counterfeit currency being produced in China, the "coin is broken."

"The question is, when will governments protect their citizens by adopting an appropriate coinage for the 21st century?"

Wrapping up the discussion, Frisby noted that a balanced portfolio with both gold and Bitcoin helps to "strip the volatility out of the Bitcoin."

"My advice is for the reasons of the decline of fiat currency, for financial reasons, for political reasons, for moral reasons, and for philosophical reasons, own both," he said.