Bitcoin is often criticized for extreme volatility, but last week showed that traditional safe haven assets can swing sharply as well. Gold and silver erased billions of dollars from their market caps in just one trading session.
Gold entered the year at 4,300 dollars per ounce and surged to 5,600 by Thursday, a 30 percent increase in a month. Silver performed even better, climbing 70 percent from 72 to 122 dollars. However, the following 24 hours were brutal. Gold fell 16 percent to 4,700, while silver lost 40 percent, wiping nearly all its yearly gains. Even after partial rebounds to 4,900 and 85 dollars, both metals closed deeply in the red, showing uncharacteristic volatility for assets often considered stable.
The causes are debated, with some pointing to profit-taking and others to political events, such as Trump’s Fed Chair nominee, Kevin Warsh. Combined, gold and silver lost roughly 7 billion dollars in market cap more than twice the entire value of the crypto market.
Bitcoin itself also saw a sharp drop, sliding from over 90,000 to 81,000 dollars in about 24 hours. Crypto advocates, however, emphasized BTC’s resilience compared with gold and silver, noting that Bitcoin is still a “17-year-old technology” and early in its adoption. The episode sparked discussions about whether some precious metal investors might rotate into crypto as volatility in traditional markets becomes more evident.
