![Bitcoin vs Gold](https://www.coindesk.com/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2Fs3y3vcno%2Fproduction%2Ffa1be7836ff86b50533c87a0de050ab13e7e522a-3840x2160.png%3Fauto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75)

## Bitcoin's Underperformance: More Than Just "Zooming Out"

While **gold has surged over 80%** amid high inflation, geopolitical tensions, and interest rate uncertainty, **Bitcoin has dropped 14% year-over-year**. This stark divergence has raised serious questions about Bitcoin's role as an **inflation hedge** and **safe-haven asset**.

### The Core Issue: Why Isn't Bitcoin Performing?

Crypto advocates argue that Bitcoin's current weakness reflects several key factors rather than a collapse in long-term demand:

- **Temporary supply overhang** from early adopters selling
- Investor **"muscle memory"** favoring familiar precious metals
- Bitcoin's correlation with risk assets rather than safe havens

### What Bitcoin Bulls Are Saying

#### Comfort in the Known

> "Gold's current surge is a temporary political distraction. In times of fear, institutions tend to retreat to what they know because they often lack the foresight to embrace a genuine phase shift in technology." - **Jessy Gilger, Gannett Wealth Advisors**

#### Transfer of Ownership, Not Demand Problem

> "It is not a demand problem; it is a supply distribution event. Institutional ETF inflows are massive, but they aren't pushing the price up; they are simply absorbing a decade's worth of supply being dumped by early adopters. We are witnessing a **transfer of ownership**, not a failure of interest." - **Mark Connors, Risk Dimensions**

#### Tech Stock Correlation

> "Bitcoin is not failing, it is merely retreating in line with internet stocks, which it has always been closely correlated with since it came to be." - **Charlie Morris, ByteTree**

#### Delayed Rotation Coming?

> "There's a long-standing, mass-market comfort with precious metals that Bitcoin simply hasn't earned yet. I still think we eventually see a **delayed rotation into BTC**, but for now investors are gravitating toward what they know and trust." - **Peter Lane, Jacobi Asset Management**

#### Need Another Demand Driver

> "Bitcoin has largely been an inflation hedge for the last half decade, but with deflation likely on the horizon, bitcoin will need to find other demand to continue driving the asset higher." - **Anthony Pompliano, ProCap Financial**

#### A Permanent Solution to Inflation

> "Bitcoin's fixed supply and network growth keep delivering outsized returns vs. inflation and indeed over gold over a multi-year horizon. Bitcoin is now emerging as the Internet's native monetary asset. It isn't a 'hedge' against inflation - it's a **permanent solution to it**." - **David Parkinson, Musquet**

#### Bitcoin's Time Is Coming

> "Think the precious metals rally is ultimately due to something that you could call 'muscle memory' - in times of uncertainty, investors resort to those assets that they are familiar with first. I am pretty confident that bitcoin will start to catch a bid once traditional hard assets have been inflated to obscene levels and capital will start to rotate into more attractively valued assets like bitcoin." - **Andre Dragosch, Bitwise**

### The Bottom Line

Many Bitcoin proponents still see BTC as a superior long-term store of value and "digital gold," predicting that once traditional hard assets are overbought, capital will rotate into Bitcoin, allowing it to "catch up" to gold. Based on the relative Mayer multiple between Bitcoin and gold, Bitcoin is already at FTX blow-up levels last seen in 2022 relative to gold, suggesting significant potential upside.

It's about a lot more than "zooming out." Supply overhangs and investor "muscle memory" regarding gold help explain bitcoin's poor absolute and relative performance.

Why Bitcoin Bulls Aren't Worried: The Real Reason BTC Is Lagging Behind Gold's $5,000 Surge

XRP and its issuer, **Ripple**, aim to streamline cross-border payments, but is it still a potential millionaire-maker? Let's dive into the details.

![The top half of the globe with a network stretching across it in blue lines.](https://g.foolcdn.com/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fg.foolcdn.com%2Feditorial%2Fimages%2F852084%2Fpurple-planet-covered-in-data-connections-1582945542.jpg&w=3840&op=resize)

## XRP's Role in the Global Payments Market

Ripple launched the **XRP Ledger (XRPL)** and the **XRP cryptocurrency** in 2012, designed as a fast and affordable way for financial institutions to transfer funds. Transaction settlement takes just three to five seconds, with fees under $0.01, making it much cheaper and faster than sending **Bitcoin**.

The XRPL is the backbone of **Ripple Payments**, a global network with over 300 banks across six continents. Ripple's goal is to capture a portion of the payments market from **SWIFT**, the current international money transfer system. In June 2025, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse projected that the XRPL could capture 14% of SWIFT's volume in five years, targeting $21 trillion annually—a highly ambitious goal.

XRP is the native cryptocurrency of the XRPL, used to pay transaction fees and provide on-demand liquidity for banking partners. If usage of the XRPL and Ripple's services increases, it could drive demand for XRP, as the cryptocurrency is crucial to both.

## The Problem with XRP

XRP fills a valuable role with Ripple Payments, but Ripple is expanding into broader financial services. Recent moves include acquiring Hidden Road (rebranded as Ripple Prime) and receiving conditional approval to form a federally chartered trust bank. Ripple has also launched **Ripple USD**, a U.S. dollar stablecoin that offers fast transactions without XRP's volatility.

Ripple is branching into areas where XRP isn't needed. Even in cross-border payments, partners can use Ripple's technology with fiat currency, only requiring XRP for the on-demand liquidity feature, which most don't use. This raises the possibility that **Ripple, not XRP, could be the real winner** going forward. Ripple remains a private company, but speculation about an IPO this year persists.

## Will XRP Make You a Millionaire?

Assuming a cryptocurrency needs 100x returns to be a millionaire-maker—turning $10,000 into $1 million—XRP's current market cap of $115 billion would need to reach $11.5 trillion, nearly three times **Alphabet**'s market cap. The odds of this happening in the next decade are extremely low.

However, XRP could still be a successful investment. The global payments market is projected to grow to $290 trillion by 2030, and XRP has value as a bridge currency. The approval of **XRP ETFs** may also boost popularity with institutional investors.

Consider a small position in XRP as a high-risk, high-reward investment, but manage expectations. While it could outperform, as it has in the past, it's probably not a millionaire-maker anymore.

XRP and its issuer, Ripple, aim to streamline cross-border payments.

XRP's Millionaire Dream: Can It Still Deliver Life-Changing Returns?

**Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao has made a bold prediction for Bitcoin, suggesting that 2026 could mark a supercycle for the leading cryptocurrency.** In an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, CZ expressed strong confidence that Bitcoin will break its historical four-year cycle, where prices typically rise and fall following the quadrennial halving event.

### Why 2026 Could Be Different
CZ cited the **United States government's growing pro-crypto stance** and the likelihood of other nations following suit as key drivers for this potential supercycle. He emphasized that as Bitcoin goes, the rest of the crypto market often follows, indicating broader implications for the entire ecosystem.

During his conversation with CNBC's Aaron Ross Sorkin, CZ stated, **"I have very strong feelings it will probably be a supercycle in 2026 for Bitcoin."** While he did not provide a specific price target, he noted that on a **5-10 year horizon, it's very easy to predict that prices will go up.**

### Other Crypto Execs Weigh In
Other prominent figures in the crypto space have been more specific with their forecasts. For instance, **Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expects Bitcoin to reach $180,000 by 2026**, and BitMex co-founder Arthur Hayes has projected a target of **$200,000** for the same period.

### Denial of Trump Connections
CZ also addressed rumors about his relationship with former President Donald Trump, denying any direct connections that might have influenced Trump's decision to grant him a pardon in October. He clarified, **"Based on my knowledge, there is really no connection."** CZ explained that the Trump family's involvement in crypto and the administration's pro-crypto policies benefit the entire industry, but he has never personally met or spoken to Trump.

He further discussed an investment from Abu Dhabi firm MGX, which paid $2 billion in the USD1 stablecoin launched by Trump-connected World Liberty Financial. CZ stated that this has been **"misconstrued,"** and his only request was to be paid in crypto to avoid dealing with banks.

### Background on CZ's Legal Issues
CZ was **sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024** for Binance's role in money laundering violations. He was released in September 2024, two days early, after completing his sentence. Despite this, he remains a vocal advocate for Bitcoin and the crypto market's future.

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Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao thinks that 2026 will bring a supercycle for Bitcoin, ending the asset's previous four-year trend.

CZ Predicts Bitcoin Supercycle in 2026: Will It Shatter the 4-Year Halving Pattern?

A cryptocurrency trader achieved an extraordinary feat by turning approximately **$4,000 into over $1 million** in just three hours on January 22, 2026, as revealed by blockchain data from Solscan. This remarkable success story centers around a new token called **DisclaimerCoin (DONT)**, issued by the publicly-traded company DeFi Development Corp (NASDAQ: DFDV).

### Why the DONT Crypto Trader Might Be a Project Insider

The trader's maneuvers suggest either **incredible luck or insider knowledge**, as the initial purchase of DONT occurred before the company's official meme coin announcement. Notably, the wallet had minimal activity prior to this event, with most transactions involving **Solana (SOL)** and remaining inactive for the last three months.

### The Meme Coin Trade That Turned $4,000 into $1 Million

The first recorded trade saw the investor buy **1.8 billion DONT for just $83.41**, totaling over 29 billion DONT for about $4,100. Shortly after, a sale of 175 million DONT raised nearly $3,689, almost covering the entire investment. The most impressive trades came five hours later, with four successive sales of over 17 billion DONT generating **more than $800,000**. The final trade cleared the entire position, and subsequent transactions involved SOL or Wrapped Solana, with curious inflows from accounts like 'Flip.gg | #1 Solana Casino' and an automated tool 'boostlegends-volumebot' designed to artificially boost trading volume.

![The initial DONT purchase for $83. Source: Solscan](https://assets.finbold.com/uploads/2026/01/Do-buy-DONT-1024x313.png)

![The final four DONT sales that raised more than $800,000. Source: Solscan](https://assets.finbold.com/uploads/2026/01/image-226-1024x140.png)

*Featured image via Shutterstock*

By the merit of excellent timing, a cryptocurrency trader succeeded in turning approximately $4k into more than $1m within just 3 hours.

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