📊｜Gold hits new highs, but people are still more interested in Bitcoin
📌Gold prices have risen more than 10% since mid-March and are now near a new high of $2,400 an ounce, while Bitcoin has fallen about 8% in the past month. Nonetheless, Bitcoin has still outpaced gold year-to-date.
🔻Bitcoin ETF attracted US$770 million in capital inflows in April. In contrast, the two major gold ETFs - SPDR Gold Shares and iShares Gold Trust - lost a total of approximately US$370 million in funds, and gold mutual funds in the first quarter of this year Also experienced capital outflows.
Rising gold prices have failed to significantly attract individual investors, while well-known gold mining stocks have underperformed the broader market. Current gold buying is mainly driven by large fund management companies and central banks, with the central banks of China, Turkey and India being active buyers.
🔻Richard Mills, editor of commodities newsletter Ahead of the Herd, believes that the growth in gold demand is mainly driven by momentum buying by institutional investors and strong buying by central banks, especially those hoarding gold to prevent foreign exchange reserves from being frozen In developing countries, this situation has become particularly obvious after the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Current geopolitical instability, such as conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, is also fueling demand for gold.
🔻Rich Nuzum, executive director and chief investment strategy of Mercer, said that he prefers gold to Bitcoin on the grounds that gold has intrinsic value and is a tangible asset, while Bitcoin is not. He stressed that gold remains effective as a hedge against inflation and geopolitical risks.
♦️Author: Paul R. Lamonica
