Cryptocurrency and precious metals have risen in price. Behind this growth are global economic uncertainties and a growing desire of investors to protect their capital in safe-haven assets.
The global economy is in turmoil, and investors are running to less risky assets as it becomes more uncertain. While precious metals like gold and silver have long been known as solid buys in problematic times, a new commodity is on the block: cryptocurrency. This signals a new phase, where Bitcoin and altcoins are no longer a risk asset class.
Many have long espoused the virtue of Bitcoin being a new form of gold and this past week, the theory may have been proven right. As of October 7th, the price stands at $123,656, down from a record high above $125,000. Despite remaining volatile, it has risen by roughly a third since the start of the year. It is not just Bitcoin either, altcoins were also rocketing upwards. The cryptocurrency prices live show ETH at $4668, also down from a spike to $4716.
All of this happened just as gold boomed. Since January 1st, it has risen by 50% and since 2018 has been continuing upwards, rising 300%. It soared past the $3,900 a troy ounce level. This is the unit of weight for precious metals and equates to 31.1 grams. Predictions are that it will move through the $4,000 per troy ounce barrier in the next few days. Gold has now seen its biggest rally since the seventies.
The biggest factor in the rise has been global uncertainty. Policies on trade tariffs started this, casting doubt on the strength of the global economy. Since then, geopolitical tensions have increased across the globe.
There is also a worry about national debt levels. Japan and Europe are struggling. The US Dollar has also slipped around 10% this year, casting doubts on the major global currency. Not only that, but the Japanese yen, always viewed as a safe-haven currency, is also under pressure. Despite the election of the country's first female prime minister in Sanae Takaich, stocks surged, but the currency continued to fall.
This has caused people to run into the arms of the debasement trade. This is when investors believe inflation and debt make precious metals and assets a better bet than stocks and shares.
Finally, the government shutdown in the US will delay many of the key macroeconomic reports. Binance noted that key U.S. data releases (ISM PMI, Nonfarm Payrolls) and a joint SEC–CFTC roundtable on regulatory coordination could have shaped market sentiment. Yet these will now not arrive at all, with Polymarket suggesting that there is a 67% chance the shutdown will last longer than 10 days. This means investors are essentially feeling their way in the dark, with no data on how the US is doing economically.
When it comes to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, October is usually a bullish month anyway. Binance noted that it has posted positive October returns in 9 of the last 11 years, averaging 20%. Current market positioning suggests reduced volatility compared to previous cycles, partly due to institutional BTC ownership rising from 0.9% in 2014 to 19.8% today.
Behind global economic conditions and uncertainty, there has been a perfect storm building over the last year that has pushed crypto onwards. Firstly, this has involved more favourable conditions for cryptocurrencies in the US and beyond, with better regulatory conditions. This has included changes such as the GENIUS Act, which has set out laws on the use of stablecoins in the United States.
Added to this have been institutional investments. Countries have begun to develop their own reserves of Bitcoin, with the US doing so at the federal and state levels. Corporations have also begun to adopt Bitcoin and altcoins into their reserves, with many now seeing the benefits of this long-term strategy. JPMorgan‘s analysts have said that Bitcoin could be undervalued. This may be as high as 40% when compared to gold and taking into account volatility adjustments.
There is also a sentiment that further rate cuts are fuelling this, with the prospect causing people to take bigger and riskier assets. However, Binance has pointed out that Bitcoin’s link to Fed policy is weak and volatile. Prices usually already reflect expected cuts, so the real impact depends on how Fed actions differ from expectations and the broader economic context.
Stablecoin prices are also up. Binance noted that USDe supply grew 43.5% in August to US$12.2B, capturing 4% of the stablecoin market. It became the fastest asset to surpass US$10B, reaching the milestone in 536 days versus USDC’s 903 and USDT’s 2000+. This has continued in the last month, with CRCL up 115% since June. This issuance has also sent native tokens upwards, including SOL and HYPE.
While October’s seasonal trends and recent market movements have helped Bitcoin gain ground, a more significant force is shaping the crypto landscape: institutional adoption. This shift is turning Bitcoin from a volatile speculative asset into a more stable, long-term store of value. This suggests that Bitcoin has now reached the place many predicted it would, a digital equivalent of gold. Its decoupling from the U.S. dollar signals that it’s being viewed less as a speculative play and more as a store of value.
Binance Research notes that “the traditional four-year market cycle is nearing the end of the bull run, but this time may differ. Institutional Bitcoin ownership has risen from 0.9% in 2014 to 19.8% now, which could mean smaller pullbacks.”
For you as an investor, that shift is significant. As institutions hold more Bitcoin and adopt longer-term strategies, the asset may start to behave more like gold, steadying during volatility and strengthening its role as a modern safe haven. With this rise, it’s no surprise that many altcoins have followed suit, and stablecoins could be next.
The takeaway? Both Bitcoin and gold now sit at the heart of a changing financial landscape. As global uncertainty continues, the assets you once viewed as risky are increasingly becoming the world’s new safe havens. The next question isn’t whether institutions will buy in, it’s how soon the rest of the market will follow.
