Gold has been one of the strongest performing assets in 2025, rising 38% year to date, outpacing bitcoin23% advance. It’s no secret, though, that bitcoin has done wildly better than gold (and pretty much everything else) over its short lifespan.
A check of the two popular inflation-resistant assets against a broad measure of U.S. money supply (known as M2) yields further insight about their performances.
Adjusted for M2 growth, gold — despite its recent strong run — remains below its 2011 peak and roughly the same level as it was in 1975. The all-time high for gold against M2 occurred in 1980.
Bitcoin tells a different story. Each bull cycle has seen BTC hit a record versus M2, including last month when bitcoin touched both an absolute all-time high as well as a new high relative to money supply.
This contrast could highlight the different roles of the two assets. Gold continues to serve as a long-standing hedge and a stabilizer in portfolios, while bitcoin’s behavior shows how new forms of money can respond differently to an era of rapid monetary expansion.