In the never-ending battle between bitcoin $BTC$63,043.07, the digital gold, and the traditional yellow metal, veteran trader Peter Brandt has picked a side, and it’s not the one bitcoin bulls would have hoped for.
Brandt, CEO of Factor LLC and widely followed chart analyst, said on X that he is mulling liquidating some of his $BTC and using the proceeds to buy gold, as he sees the yellow metal outperforming $BTC.
"I am contemplating selling some of my Bitcoin and going to Gold with the money. Looks to me that Gold is going to gain substantially on Bitcoin," Brandt told his followers on X.
Both $BTC and gold have recently taken a beating, though bitcoin has fared noticeably worse than the traditional safe haven metal. The leading cryptocurrency by market value slid 20% in June to below $60,000, marking its worst monthly performance in four years. Gold, by comparison, dropped 11.7% to nearly $4,000 per ounce.
The divergence looks even starker on a year-to-date basis, with $BTC down 28% in 2026 versus a 3.9% decline for gold.
Bucking the trend
Brandt’s view flies directly in the face of the popular market narrative among crypto bulls' that anticipates a massive rotation of money back into $BTC and digital assets.
The logic is simple. $BTC has underperformed gold, technology stocks and just about everything this year, which makes it look oversold and attractive relative to these assets.
But Brandt’s technical analysis suggests that the expected rotation may not happen and gold's outperformance relative to $BTC could continue.
The momentum shift
A closer look at the XAU/$BTC chart helps understand Brandt's bias for gold. XAU/$BTC tracks the per-ounce price of gold in $BTC terms.
For over a decade, XAU/$BTC trended lower, illustrating the cryptocurrency's relentless outperformance and rally against the yellow metal. However, since at least 2019-2020, the pace of decline in the ratio has markedly slowed.
In technical analysis terms, this represents a loss of bearish momentum in the ratio. A flattening curve has replaced the steep, vertical drops that characterized the 2010s, a sign that the sellers of gold (relative to bitcoin) are finally exhausted.
And now, the tide seems to be turning in favor of the yellow metal.
The "rounding" effect Brandt highlighted suggests the ratio's fall has not just stopped; it is beginning to curl upward.
In other words, we could be entering a new macro cycle where gold begins to claw back the ground it lost to bitcoin over the last 15 years.