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By James Van Straten|Edited by Parikshit Mishra
Jul 14, 2025, 8:12 a.m.
- Bitcoin climbs above $122,000, now up 30% year to date, overtaking gold’s 27% gain, according to Charlie Bilello of Creative Planning.
- Investors flock to bitcoin and gold as safe havens amid high U.S. rates, dollar weakness, delayed tariffs, and surging U.S. deficits.
Bitcoin
has surged tonew all-time highsabove $123,000 and just logged its highest-ever weekly close at $119,500, following another record weekly close the week before. Year to date, BTC is now up around 30%, pulling ahead of gold which has gained approximately 27% during the same period.
According to analysis by Charlie Bilello, chief market strategist at Creative Planning, bitcoin and gold are the top two performing assets so far in 2025. Bilello notes, “We’ve never seen these two in the number one and number two spots for any calendar year.”
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
However, there is a downside to having two largely unproductive assets as the year’s best performers. When bitcoin and gold lead the pack, it often signals investor anxiety or crisis conditions rather than confidence in the broader economy.
In theory, productive capital allocation should be rewarded, but these trends risk discouraging investment in the real economy. This distortion stems from artificially altered costs of capital.
Since the passage of the “big beautiful bill” on July 3, bitcoin has rallied by roughly $15,000. According to The Kobeissi Letter, bitcoin has entered “crisis mode,” with U.S. interest rates remaining structurally high.
Meanwhile, the dollar index (DXY) has fallen 11% over the past six months. In that same timeframe, tariffs have been delayed, U.S.-China trade negotiations have oscillated, and tensions have escalated with U.S. military strikes involving Iran. Additionally, the world’s largest economy recorded a historic $316 billion budget deficit in May.
Taken together, these factors highlight a financial landscape shaped by geopolitical uncertainty, fiscal strain, and investors gravitating toward perceived safe havens like bitcoin and gold.
Read more: As Bitcoin Rushes Past $122K, What’s Next for Ether, XRP, Dogecoin?
James Van Straten is a Senior Analyst at CoinDesk, specializing in Bitcoin and its interplay with the macroeconomic environment. Previously, James worked as a Research Analyst at Saidler & Co., a Swiss hedge fund, where he developed expertise in on-chain analytics. His work focuses on monitoring flows to analyze Bitcoin’s role within the broader financial system.
In addition to his professional endeavors, James serves as an advisor to Coinsilium, a UK publicly traded company, where he provides guidance on their Bitcoin treasury strategy. He also holds investments in Bitcoin and Strategy (MSTR).
