Gold and copper lead the market in 2025, while Bitcoin temporarily fades but may be building up for a rebound.

Since 2025, there has been a noticeable divergence in the performance of major global assets. Amid investors' simultaneous pursuit of safety and growth, Bitcoin has unexpectedly lagged behind two assets with completely opposite attributes - gold and copper. This phenomenon reflects that, driven by macroeconomic uncertainty and the AI boom, market preferences are shifting towards 'tangible assets'.

According to the data from the beginning of the year to now, gold, as a traditional safe-haven asset and inflation hedge tool, has risen cumulatively by 70%, with prices breaking through $4450 per ounce, reaching a historical high and becoming the strongest performing asset. Meanwhile, copper, seen as a key material for global economic and artificial intelligence infrastructure, has risen by about 35%, ranking second. In contrast, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices in the US stock market have increased by 17% and 21% respectively, the 10-year US Treasury bond has fallen by 9%, the US dollar index has dropped by nearly 10%, while Bitcoin has decreased by about 6%.

This choice in the market is quite symbolic. Gold represents the ultimate safety attributes, while copper is deeply tied to artificial intelligence, electrification, and digital infrastructure construction. Although Bitcoin has long been referred to as “digital gold” or “high-end technology asset,” it has failed to attract funds from both the safe-haven and growth sides in this round of market conditions.

Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, pointed out that the narrative of Bitcoin as “digital gold” has not yet truly convinced Wall Street. He believes that the current investment logic for institutional Bitcoin is more about passive allocation, value storage, or yield tools, lacking an application-based growth story that can attract new funds, which somewhat limits capital inflow.

On the other hand, Amberdata's derivatives chief Greg Magadini emphasized that Bitcoin lacks sovereign-level allocation support. Unlike gold, which is held in large quantities by global central banks and sovereign nations, the main demand for Bitcoin still comes from retail investors and high-risk preference investors like hedge funds. He believes that after the positive factors such as ETF and regulatory expectations have been fully priced in by the market, Bitcoin may need further recognition at the sovereign state level to start a new round of rise.

However, not all views are pessimistic about Bitcoin. Lewis Harland, portfolio manager at Re7 Capital, stated that Bitcoin's current consolidation resembles “building momentum.” Historically, gold tends to lead Bitcoin by about six months, and when gold strengthens due to expectations of currency depreciation and fiscal pressure, Bitcoin typically experiences a more explosive rebound.

Overall, under the main theme of “hedging + artificial intelligence”, gold and copper have taken the spotlight in the short term, while Bitcoin is temporarily in a phase of being overlooked. However, given that the long-term macro logic remains unchanged, it is still worth observing whether Bitcoin will regain market attention in subsequent cycles.