Bitcoin isn't just rising in dollar terms, it's also outperforming gold, a hard asset with a centuries-long track record, at a time when concerns about government finances across advanced nations dominate headlines.
The bitcoin-to-gold ratio, which measures bitcoin's dollar price per coin against gold's dollar price per ounce, has climbed to 18.17, the highest since January, according to TradingView data. In plain terms, one bitcoin now buys a little over 18 ounces of gold. In dollar terms, the cryptocurrency is currently priced at around $81,000 across major exchanges, according to CoinDesk.
Both assets have been rallying after lagging the AI-driven stock market boom in the U.S. and parts of Asia. Analysts have pointed to growing fears that governments, including the U.S., may lean on debasing or devaluing their currencies to inflate away their debt.
Every major advanced economy except Switzerland now carries a debt-to-GDP ratio above 100%, and the U.S. leads the pack on primary deficit, the shortfall once interest payments are stripped out, which gives a cleaner read on how much a government is actually overspending before debt-servicing costs pile on.
Policymakers, for their part, are betting they can grow their way out of the hole rather than shrink it through austerity.
"The world is awash in debt... and the only way for us to get out of this is to grow our way out of this," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, on Monday.
Bitcoin bull Anthony Scaramucci seized on the line as an inadvertent pitch for the asset he's long championed.
"Bessent stood in front of the G20 and said the world is awash in debt. Bitcoin's entire pitch is that sentence," the SkyBridge Capital founder wrote on X. "Twenty finance ministers just delivered the best Bitcoin ad of the year, and none of them meant to."
Several others share that sentiment and the logic behind it is simple – bitcoin sits outside the traditional financial system and, unlike the dollar, yen, euro or other fiat currencies, can't be devalued by a policy decision.