Gold Left Bitcoin Eating Its Dust: Bloomberg Analyst Calls Out ETF Hype

Mike McGlone, Senior Community Strategist at Bloomberg, is apparently auditioning for the role of party pooper-in-chief. In a post that hit X (formerly Twitter, still chaotic), McGlone argued that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs aren't the long-term bullish catalyst many degens were dreaming about. Instead, he's convinced these fancy financial products have been capping Bitcoin's upside rather than launching it into some moon-based retirement plan.

Here's the receipts nobody wanted to see: Since the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) started trading in January 2024, Bitcoin has gained roughly 50%. That's about what the S&P 500 delivered over the same stretch—solid, but not exactly the generational wealth generator narrative that Bitcoin influencers were pitching.

Meanwhile, gold surged approximately 135%.

Yeah, you read that right. Gold basically showed up to the performance review and Bitcoin forgot to bring its resume.

McGlone noted that despite all the institutional adoption hype surrounding spot ETFs, Bitcoin's returns have been relatively muted. The funds flowing into Bitcoin ETFs provided short-term price support, sure. But McGlone sees this as potentially marking the top of a crypto cycle—the climax of broad appreciation, after which enthusiasm waned and capital rotated elsewhere. Gold, meanwhile, kept shining as a macroeconomic hedge while Bitcoin behaved more like a risk-on asset that lost the plot.

Amid this Bitcoin-versus-gold debate, BTC is holding around $71,251. It's down roughly 45% from its 2025 peak above $120,000—because why would anything in crypto be straightforward? That said, broader market optimism briefly pushed the top coin to $72,767 on April 7—the highest since March 18. Bitcoin notched more than 5% gains this month after recording its first green month following five consecutive months of losses.

Some bulls are predicting a rebound to $80,000. Analyst Fred Krueger suggested BTC could reclaim that level soon—soon being crypto's most flexible word. So far, though, Bitcoin failed to hold above $72,000, sliding to the current level like a degen who bought the top.

Daily trading volume dropped 29.6% to $35.6 billion, signaling cooling investor interest. For now, Bitcoin is consolidating—waiting for a catalyst to push it higher. Basically it's in crypto timeout, trying to figure out where it went wrong.