Gold's Performance From The Perspective Of BTC Proponents
The Daily Crypto Update for Institutional Investors
With gold continuing to reach new all-time highs, in this AM’s note we review the precious metal’s performance from the perspective of ardent, long-term holders of BTC
Gold’s rally signals the conditions that many BTC proponents envisioned when first purchasing the asset: Bitcoin’s 2009 genesis block, mined by the asset’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, featured the message, ‘The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.’ The message served as an allusion to the economic turmoil of the era and the alternative monetary system the asset was designed to represent. In this regard, the broad anxiety related to global macro dynamics dynamics that is driving demand for gold, from the perspective of long-time BTC proponents, is also conducive to the asset’s adoption.
Gold’s rally increases BTC’s addressable market: BTC proponents have often pointed to BTC’s relatively small market cap to other macro assets to underscore its earliness and upside. The expansion of gold signals growing demand for neutral, global, assets that offer insulation from worrying macro dynamics. BTC proponents are confident that the asset’s qualities that allow it to serve as a safe haven asset will receive increased attention under these circumstances. BTC proponents will also be quick to highlight the asset’s advantages over gold. For instance, in June 2025 we wrote that an FT headline, ‘Germany and Italy pressed to bring $245bn of gold home from US,’ underscores a key advantage of BTC over gold: BTC custody is infinitely scalable and offers key advantages over physical bullion. We wrote that, ‘[u]nlike physical gold, BTC custody is infinitely scalable. What this means in practice is that custodying one BTC is not more difficult compared to custodying 100,000 BTC.’
Gold’s growing role in the crypto space: In a broad interview with Bloomberg with Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, the news outlet placed the firm’s gold holding at 140 tons, worth USD ~25B. Considering that a portion of this gold backs Tether tokenized gold product XAUt, the remaining USD ~22.4B represents 12% of USDt’s market cap. As of Tether’s Q3 2025 attestation report, 7.41% of USDt’s market cap market cap was backed by gold. According to Bloomberg, Tether is now ‘the world’s largest known hoard of bullion outside of banks and nation states.’ Besides gold’s growing backing of the largest stablecoin, Ardoino told Bloomberg that he believes countries currently ‘buying a lot of gold…will soon launch tokenized version of gold as a competitive currency to the US dollar.’ As we pointed out yesterday, this is already taking place: In December, Bhutan and Kyrgyzstan launched tokenized gold products. Crypto proponents believe that tokenized gold can endow the precious metals with new capacities, such as peer-to-peer transferability or access to crypto native financial services. For example, holders from emerging markets where financial services may be deficient will be able to borrow against tokenized gold in a manner not possible with physical precious metal. Ardoino told Bloomberg he foresees there is a ‘good chance’ that XAUt can end 2026 with a market cap from USD 5B to 10B; XAUt’s current market cap is USD 2.6B.
CRYPTO HEADLINES
The SEC released a ‘Statement on Tokenized Securities.’ According to the statement, tokenized securities are described as financial instruments recorded fully or partially on crypto networks. The statement is intended to help market participants comply with federal securities laws and prepare required filings or requests to the Commission or its staff. - link - @SEC
Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) reportedly made a strategic investment in crypto trading platform Talos at a USD 1.5B valuation. Details of the investment amount were not disclosed. Talos specializes in digital asset trading infrastructure for institutional clients. - link - @CoinDesk
United Arab Emirates’ central bank has approved the USDU stablecoin, issued by Universal Digital and backed by USD reserves in Emirates NBD, Mashreq, and Mbank accounts. Aquanow has been appointed as a global distribution partner for institutional access. - link - @TheBlock
Metaplanet plans to raise up to JPY 21B, equivalent to USD ~137M, via new shares and warrants to pay down debt and continue accumulating BTC. Of the initial proceeds, JPY 5.2B is designated for debt repayment, with remaining funds backing BTC purchases and other corporate needs. - link - @CoinDesk
Crypto-focused Swiss bank Sygnum announced its Starboard Sygnum BTC Alpha Fund has raised 750 BTC since its launch in October 2025. The fund, which employs a market-neutral arbitrage strategy, achieved an annualized 8.9% net return in BTC for Q4 2025. - link - @Sygnum
Bybit is launching a ‘MyBank’ service in February, pending regulatory approval, enabling customers to hold and transfer 18 fiat currencies using IBANs. The service, in partnership with local banks including Pave Bank, allows instant fiat-to-crypto conversion and supports Bybit’s international growth plans. - link - @Bloomberg
Hong Kong-based OSL Group (HKEX: 863) announced an equity financing of USD 200M. The financing will support global growth and strategic expansion in stablecoin trading and payments, including acquisitions and technology development. - link - @OSL
TOP ARTICLES
OPEN-SOURCE RESEARCH / LONG-READ OF THE DAY
Inside Iran’s Growing $7.8 Billion Crypto Ecosystem: IRGC Dominance and a Flight to Bitcoin Reflect Geopolitical Tensions and Domestic Unrest, Chainalysis, January 15, 2026
Chainalysis reviews the use of BTC by the government of Iran.
CRYPTO MULTIMEDIA
Gold Is Being Repriced & Bitcoin Is Next, What Bitcoin Did Podcast, January 29, 2026
Caitlin Long, the founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, discusses gold’s performance and BTC’s outlook.
CHART OF THE DAY
In the US, Google searches for ‘gold price’ surpassed those for ‘bitcoin price’ in April 2025 for the first time since June 2020.
About FRNT Financial
FRNT is a digital asset investment bank offering capital markets and advisory services to institutional investors participating in or entering the space. The Company aims to bridge the worlds of traditional and web-based finances with a technology forward and compliant operation. Business lines include deliverable trading services, structured derivative products, merchant banking, advisory, consulting, lending origination and principal investments. Headquartered in Toronto, FRNT was co-founded in 2018 by CEO Stéphane Ouellette.