- Bitcoin’s value surged in 2024, reaching $100,000 per coin, driven by market optimism and favorable economic policies.
- Gold also saw significant gains, but Bitcoin’s performance outshone it with a 131% increase compared to gold’s 30% rise.
- This comparison highlights Bitcoin’s growing acceptance as a digital store of value and its investment potential.
The year 2024 was unquestionably a great year for cryptocurrencies. In its early stages, the digital assets market was already showing signs that the dreaded crypto winter was behind, and as we head into the end of the year, crypto is now more valuable than ever.
Taking as an example the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization—Bitcoin—the asset began 2024 trading at around $43,000 per token. By March, BTC was already valued at above $70,000, signaling a (at the time) 62% increase in value year-to-date.
The midyear wasn’t as impactful. From April to August, Bitcoin stagnated trading sideways in a zone between $63,000 and $55,000. However, September ignited another massive pump that lasts to this day.
Since then, Bitcoin has grown another 79% in value. This major upward momentum led the asset to reach its historic milestone of $100,000 per coin recently. Moreover, the bulk of this bullish trend was caused by extreme market optimism around Donald Trump’s victory against Kamala Harris in this year’s Presidential election.
Also, digital assets enjoyed significant relief after the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates in the second half of 2024. With expectations that the future Trump administration will be heavily more “pro-crypto” than the former, even with a new leadership in the SEC, many expect digital assets to continue their forward momentum throughout the year.
How Does Bitcoin Compare Against Gold in 2024?
An interesting metric to compare how well Bitcoin performed in the year so far is to contrast its performance with the world’s go-to store of value asset, Gold.
In 2021, during the world economic hardships of the COVID pandemic, both Bitcoin and Gold proved themselves as reliable stores of value. While the latter has acting as an SOV for over 100 years, this event marked the first time BTC became a reliable digital store of value.
Now, in a booming market with nearly all risky assets booming in value, contrasting the two assets might reveal distinct patterns of growth. Much like Bitcoin, Gold also had a spectacular run in 2024, recently reaching its all-time highest price in October.
While Gold grew by around 30% during the last 365 days — Bitcoin’s performance completely outshone the rare metal asset. In that same timeframe, BTC saw a major 131% increase in value.
While these two performances are not really comparable, was gold is perhaps the most established asset in the world and Bitcoin can still be considered to be in its early stages, it sheds light on how digital assets were undervalued in recent years, and the amazing investment potential they possess.
