Gold surges towards $5,000! Wall Street analysts fiercely debate: Why is "digital gold" Bitcoin still stuck in the same place?

Gold prices surge towards $5,000, hitting a new all-time high, while the market cap of gold stablecoin XAUT breaks $2.1 billion. In contrast, Bitcoin remains stagnant, sparking heated debates among Wall Street analysts.

Gold Approaching $5000, XAUT Benefits from Market Cap Growth

Affected by international geopolitical turmoil, global risk-averse demand continues to rise, driving a strong rally in the precious metals market. Gold prices have been climbing steadily, reaching a high of $4,967 per ounce as of today (1/23), setting a new record.

Meanwhile, Tether Gold (XAUT), issued by Tether, has officially surpassed a market cap of $2.17 billion, with a weekly growth rate of 7.73%.

Image source: CoinMarketCap Tether Gold (XAUT) market cap has officially surpassed $2.17 billion

However, Bitcoin ($BTC), often regarded as “digital gold,” has recently underperformed, hovering around $89,000, down about 30% from its all-time high of $126,000 set in October 2025.

Wall Street Analysts Clash Over Bitcoin’s Performance Compared to Gold

In response to the decoupling of Bitcoin and gold trends, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas and Jim Bianco, head of Bianco Research, engaged in a heated debate on social media.

Jim Bianco pointed out that, over the past 14 months, gold has risen 83%, silver 205%, and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices have also experienced double-digit growth, while Bitcoin has fallen 2.6%.

He believes that the previously relied-upon “institutional adoption” narrative for Bitcoin has failed, and the market lacks new catalysts, causing Bitcoin’s price to stagnate.

In contrast, Eric Balchunas disagrees, emphasizing that investors should look beyond short-term fluctuations, Bitcoin has already surged 300% in the last 20 months, and the current sideways movement is just a consolidation phase after a significant rally. If you don’t think $126,000 is a permanent top, then what does it matter if it consolidates for 14 months?

Silent IPO in Progress for Bitcoin, Token Rotation with Growing Pains

Eric Balchunas also cited Wall Street expert Jordi Visser’s view, reaffirming that Bitcoin is entering a “silent IPO” phase.

With the launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs, early investors who have held Bitcoin for years are now taking the opportunity to sell their holdings to new institutional entrants.

Just in July last year, a single investor sold Bitcoin worth over $9 billion, holding for more than ten years. Such large-scale token rotation naturally suppresses price performance.

Related report:
Is Bitcoin silently IPO-ing, and you don’t know? Wall Street experts analyze why BTC has recently been weak

Bitcoin researcher Axel Adler Jr. further cited data indicating that, on January 21 and 22 this year, a total of 16,653 Bitcoins were transferred into exchanges. This abnormal influx of funds often signals potential selling pressure, significantly different from the average daily net inflow in January.

Image source: Axel Adler Jr. reports that on January 21 and 22, a total of 16,653 Bitcoins were transferred into exchanges

Additionally, the short-term holder SOPR indicator for Bitcoin is currently below 1.0, the breakeven point, indicating that recent buyers are facing losses, which could lead to increased resistance in the $89,000 to $90,000 range.

On-Chain Data Suggests Bitcoin May Be Nearing Bottom

Despite this, data from Glassnode shows that, the cumulative volume delta (CVD) for Binance and other exchanges has returned to a buyer-dominated state, and selling pressure on Coinbase is stabilizing. Cointelegraph’s analysis suggests that, theoretically, a decrease in supply should stabilize prices, but current buying levels remain insufficient.

Analyst Darkfost from CryptoQuant also noted that, the stablecoin supply rate (SSR) has experienced the largest decline in this cycle, indicating that Bitcoin’s market cap is decreasing faster than stablecoin liquidity, implying that Bitcoin may be bottoming out.

Image source: Darkfost reports the largest decline in the stablecoin supply rate (SSR) in this cycle