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Bitcoin Trails Gold in 2025 but Dominates Long-Term Returns Across Major Asset Classes
Gold leads bitcoin year to date, but BTC’s cumulative return since 2011 dwarfs all major asset classes, including gold, stocks and real estate.
Updated Aug 10, 2025, 3:57 p.m. Published Aug 9, 2025, 9:55 p.m.
What to know:
- Bitcoin is up 25.2% so far in 2025 as of Aug. 8, second only to gold’s 29% gain.
- Since 2011, bitcoin’s total return has exceeded gold’s by over 308,000 times.
- BTC has also led annualized gains since 2011, far outpacing equities and real estate.
Bitcoin slipped 0.11% in the past 24 hours to $116,702, according to CoinDesk Data, but it remains up 25% year to date, second only to gold’s 29% gain among major asset classes, according to data shared by financial strategist Charlie Bilello on X.
Both assets have outperformed other major asset classes this year, such as emerging market stocks (VWO +15.6%), the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ +12.7%) and U.S. large caps (SPY +9.4%). Meanwhile, U.S. mid-caps (MDY) and small-caps (IWM) have only gained 0.2% and 0.8%, respectively, his data showed.
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This marks the first time gold and bitcoin have occupied the top two positions in Bilello’s annual asset class rankings since records began.
The big picture
However, zooming out, bitcoin has delivered an extraordinary 38,897,420% total return since 2011 — a figure that dwarfs all other asset classes in the dataset.
Gold’s 126% cumulative return over the same period puts it in the middle of the pack, trailing equity benchmarks like the Nasdaq 100 (1101%) and U.S. large caps (559%), as well as mid caps (316%), small caps (244%) and emerging market stocks (57%).
Based on Bilello’s figures, bitcoin’s total return has exceeded gold’s by more than 308,000 times over the past 14 years.
When measured on an annualized basis, bitcoin’s dominance is equally clear.
The flagship cryptocurrency has delivered a 141.7% average annual gain since 2011, compared with 5.7% for gold, 18.6% for the Nasdaq 100, 13.8% for U.S. large caps and 4.4% to 16.4% for other major equity and real estate indexes, Bilello's data showed.
Gold’s long-term stability has made it a valuable hedge in certain market cycles, but its pace of appreciation has been far slower than bitcoin’s exponential climb.
Store of value: Gold vs. bitcoin
Renowned trader Peter Brandt weighed in on Aug. 8, contrasting gold’s merits as a store of value with bitcoin’s potential to surpass all fiat alternatives.
“Some think gold is a great store of value — and it is. But the ultimate store of value will prove to be bitcoin,” he said on X, sharing a long-term chart of the U.S. dollar’s purchasing power.
His comments echo the growing narrative that bitcoin’s scarcity and decentralization make it uniquely positioned to outperform traditional hedges over time.
Read more: Chart of the Week: Tariff Carnage Starting to Fulfill Bitcoin's 'Store of Value' Promise
Bitcoin’s ability to hold above six figures in 2025 while maintaining a top-two performance among major assets underscores its resilience in a volatile macro backdrop.
Traders are watching whether it can retest the year’s peak near $123,000, while long-term holders point to its outperformance since 2011 as evidence of its staying power. Market participants say upcoming macro data and risk appetite across equities and commodities could set the tone for the next leg.
Read more: Bitcoin Still on Track for $140K This Year, But 2026 Will Be Painful: Elliott Wave Expert
AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
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